Firefly: Deleted Scenes
by Gamera Obscura
Summary: A series of tales we never got to see in the Firefly 'Verse. Has much from the wiki, comics, novel, as well as the TV show and film. Each is a contained story, with continuing arcs; all your questions will be answered. Begins 10 years before Firefly, through the end of the film. No OCs. A new chapter was published every day for 75 days! Shiny! BONUS STORY/CODA COMING SOON!
1. Balls and Bayonets

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 1: Balls and Bayonets  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"What were you in the war? That big war you failed to win? You were a Sergeant, yeah? Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds... 'Balls and Bayonets' brigade. Big, tough veteran. Now you got yourself a ship and you're a Captain. Only I think you're still a Sergeant, see? Still a soldier. A man of honor in a den of thieves. Well this is my** _ **gorram**_ **den, and I don't like the way you look down on me. I'm above you! Better than! Businessman, see? Roots in the community. You're just a scavenger."  
-Badger - Firefly Episode 1: "Serenity"**

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 **(Author's Foreword: This is a series of one-shots, all taking place in the Firefly and Serenity 'Verse. While they are technically considered one-shots, there is an underlying plot that continues from ficlet to ficlet. Some ficlets feature situations touched on or references in various episodes, some include actual deleted scenes from the series and movie, and some are what I call "mini-episodes", which are full, short stories not touched upon in the series or film at all, and portray adventures of the** ** _Serenity_** **crew as they try to eke out a living in a hostile galaxy. Additionally, some or even many of the chapters will recreate actual scenes from the series in the hopes of showing a broader perspective both in the scenes to precede and follow it, as well as a unique perspective within the scene itself. I plan to publish approximately 60 ficlets in this series, which features no OCs as major characters, and thus, no self-insertion or Mary Sues. I will do my best to capture the spirit and "soul" of the series, as well as to stay as true to the characters, settings, and technology as I can. Don't expect any time travel stories, aliens, or crossovers with other fandoms as a result. I have had a tremendous amount of fulfillment and enjoyment writing this series thusfar, and hope that you enjoy reading it at least as much as I have had writing it. One new chapter will be published every day until it is completed, so I will be writing 1-2 chapters every day, in the hopes of having a 5-7 day buffer of chapters I have written but not yet published, to give me some freedom in case I run into writer's block or need a break. Also, note that the last 5 ficlets published are placeholders, not actual chapters. Each will include a title, a quote, and a one-line synopsis of what the ficlet will be about. It will also contain the intended publication date, so you know when to expect that particular story to arrive. I hope this isn't problematic for anyone, but I did want to tease everyone with a look ahead at what is to come. That's all. Please enjoy, and when you're caught up, please check back every day for your daily dose of Firefly: Deleted Scenes.)**

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Sergeant Malcolm Reynolds inspected his new Platoon, Platoon 14, 4th Company of the 57th Overlanders Brigade. Newly promoted to Sergeant in the second year of the Unification War, he paced under the watchful eye of the freshly minted Lieutenant Burke, a well-educated and young man. Barely an adult, Burke had told Reynolds that while he gained his footing, the Sergeant would effectively command the men; Burke had no combat experience, while Reynolds had been fighting with distinction and valor for over a year now.

"I know that many of you – nearly half – are fresh out of Basic, and ain't got no combat experience. The best advice I can give you is to pair up with a veteran; follow their instructions and your survivability will go up dramatically. You've been trained, but nothing can truly prepare you for the horrors of war, and this enemy – The _gorram_ Alliance – is particularly horrific. Already we have seen that they are not shy using weapons of mass destruction: plasma barrages, mass drivers, cobalt fusion bombs, chemical and biological weapons. This is the closest mankind has come to Total Warfare since God forced us out of Eden, back on Earth-That-Was."

He turned in his pacing, and Burke noted that he wore a gold cross around his neck, on top of his uniform. In the Sergeant's file, it had been noted that this was by writ: special dispensation had been given by Colonel Samuels of the 82nd, that he be allowed to wear it this way, even in combat, although Burke guessed that he probably tucked it into his clothing in those sorts of situations, to prevent the glint of metal from attracting the attention of the enemy.

"The first rule of our platoon is that no one salutes in the field. The Alliance snipers like nothing better than killing Sergeants and officers. As such, you will not draw attention to us by saluting in the field under any circumstances." He glanced around the room for his orderly. "Corporal Alleyne, front and center."

A young woman with dark skin and dark, wavy hair loosely above her shoulders stepped forward and stood before Reynolds. "Corporal Alleyne, reporting as ordered, sir!" She saluted, and Reynolds saluted back.

"What's your full name, Corporal?" he asked.

"Corporal Zoe Oona Alleyne, sir!" the Corporal answered instantly.

"And you are career military?" Reynolds eyed her up and down.

"I am, sir!" she said, proudly.

Reynolds smirked. "Ladies and menfolk, from now on you will address my orderly, Corporal Zoe Oona Alleyne, as 'Zoe'. And when we are off duty, I expect to be called 'Mal'. You will find that while I expect the best from you in combat, I believe in a certain familiarity and an informal decorum. Despite that, my word is law, and when I say 'die', I expect you to die without question or hesitation.

"But we're not going to lose this war, ladies and menfolk. We're going to kick those _hundans_ all the way back to the Core where they belong, and teach them once and for all to leave the Borderlands alone. The 57th Overlanders ain't called the 'Balls and Bayonets Brigade' for nothing, and we're going to carry on our Brigade's tradition of making widows and widowers all across the 'Verse. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!" the men and women of Platoon 14 belted out in unison.

Mal turned again, then faced the men and stopped. "And remember this, Overlanders… When you can't run, you crawl. And when you can't crawl, you find someone to carry you. We are a band of brothers and sisters, and as such, we leave no man behind."

Mal smirked. "Zoe, dismiss the men."

Zoe turned to the assembled platoon. "Men, fall out! Dismissed! We rally in four hours for deployment to Beylix."

The congregation of soldiers began to mill about, as Burke joined Zoe and Mal in the center of the barracks. As they began to walk out together, leaving the men to pack, Burke said, "That was a stirring speech, Sergeant. But calling Corporal Alleyne 'Zoe'? I don't want a breakdown in the chain of command here."

"Don't worry, sir," said Mal. "I had my men and women call me 'Mal' while I was a Corporal. I found it fostered a culture of family and fraternity amongst the ranks. It worked in the 82nd, and I'm confident it'll work here. Besides, Zoe here is career; forcing the men to address her by her first name tickles me a little."

"Thank you, sir. I've worked long and hard to be talked to like a little sister by my subordinates," Zoe said acidly.

"You'll get over it, Zoe," Burke said. "It's Sergeant Reynolds's law around here, now."

As they walked across the compound to the Command and Control center to verify that their ride to the _Sun Bin,_ standing by in orbit, was refueled and ready for the Company.

"Zoe," Mal said, "you've served with some of these men. What can you tell me about them?"

Zoe thought for a moment. "Privates Adam Trent and Erika Samno are good fighters; Samno isn't officially rated as a sniper, but she'll do in a pinch. She once took out an Alliance Major at five hundred yards with a DM-28 and a scope she scavenged from an Alliance M-54. Oh, and then there's Private Tracy Smith. He's good in a fight, but he's a bit… distracted. He has a tendency to let his guard down when he thinks he's safe or otherwise covered."

"Good to know," Mal said as they stepped into C&C.

"Colonel Obrin," Burke said, stepping up to his commanding officer and saluting. Zoe and Mal saluted as well.

Obrin saluted back, his huge, waxed mustache twitching as he spoke. "Don't worry, Lieutenant, the transports will be ready and standing by when you rally. But we have some bad news: Boros has fallen; the 82nd and the 49th – what's left of them – are pulling out."

" _Go-se!"_ exclaimed Mal.

"Oh, _zhe zhen shi ge kuaile de jinzhan_ ," said Burke, angrily.

"Don't tell the troops, Burke," said Obrin. "We have a big enough morale problem as it is. We don't need to compound the issue."

"Yes, sir," said Burke.

Malcolm Reynolds looked over the star map on the far wall of Camp Pennington's C&C. Over a third of the Independent worlds had already fallen, and it seemed that with the Alliance fielding an overwhelming force, it was just a matter of time before Unification was a reality. Mal could always go back to his family's cattle ranch back on Shadow, but until then, there were thirty men and women under his command, and he intended to teach them the meaning of the words 'glory' and 'honor' until the bitter end.

 **(Author's Note: It has never been described how and when Mal and Zoe met; this is my vision of that meeting, and the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Also, while Tracy survived the war, he was no longer a member of the 57th by the time the Battle of Serenity Valley occurred. It's canon that of Sergeant Malcom Reynolds's platoon, only he and Zoe survived that fateful and final battle.)**

 **(Next Time: Losing My Religion - Following the war, in a military prison, Mal enjoys some time with some old friends and comes to a decision about his life, as does a man named Derrial Book.)**


	2. Losing My Religion

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 2: Losing My Religion  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **We're not gonna die. We can't die, Bendis. And you know why? Because we are so... very... pretty. We are just too pretty for God to let us die."  
-Sergeant Malcom Reynolds, Episode 1: "Serenity"**

" **You're welcome on my boat. God ain't."  
-Captain Malcom Reynolds - Episode 2: "The Train Job"**

Malcom Reynolds stared at his plate of food in Internment Camp 37 and grimaced. The food was terrible here, but at least it was better than the field rations the Independents had expected them to eat. He picked up his fork, then put it down again.

"Problem, sir?" Zoe asked him, seated at the table with several other compatriots from the war.

"Just not very hungry today, I guess," Mal said, eyeing his food reluctantly.

The Battle of Serenity Valley on Hera, the last significant conflict of the war, had gone on for seven weeks, and the troops there held off the Alliance advances for two weeks after Central Command had surrendered to the Alliance, effectively ending the war. But the men and woman of the 57th, the 33rd, the 114th, and the 82nd had held on for those two weeks, refusing to accept defeat, and made the Alliance _hundans_ pay for every inch of ground with their blood.

Eventually, the Alliance's final push had come, and the sky was full of drop ships. Command had ordered them to lay down arms, but there was no one left of Platoon 14 to surrender. No one but Mal and Zoe. They had carried out their orders and approached the enemy soldiers with their rifles over their heads, dirty rags over their barrels, and been taken to a holding facility on the far end of the valley. Two weeks later, they and a group of other prisoners – a surprisingly small group – had been taken by Alliance Cruiser to a one of the many POW camps on Boros.

He and Zoe had been stuck in this hole for over two months, and it had been announced by the camp commandant that they were likely to be charged with war crimes; the prospect of spending the next twenty to forty years in an Alliance military prison was none too appealing to him.

Sergeant Monty Omeris, with his shaggy beard and thick mustache, and baby-faced PFC Tracy Smith started at him across the table. It was nice to have some friendly faces he recognized in the camp.

Mess was done in staggered groups, and theirs was the second mess, with lunches served promptly at noon. The mess hall was filled with hundreds of Browncoats, all of whom had been stripped of their uniforms, and were forced to wear prison greys.

Monty's spirits were still high, and he smiled at Mal, placing a hand comfortingly on his shoulder. "Maybe this will cheer you up, then: I heard from a guard that the Alliance Parliament is currently debating a measure to offer clemency to all the Browncoats; it seems they want all this nonsense with keeping us prisoner behind them, and ain't gonna cover the expense of giving us three hots and a cot for the rest of our lives. We could be out of here in a couple of weeks, Mal."

Mal gave a weak smile to the giant man across the table from him as he sat back down. "And what do I have to look forward to? All the cattle on my ranch on Shadow was seized for the war effort, just so the Alliance brass could eat beefsteak before sleeping in their warm beds."

Zoe sighed at this. "You've still got the land. Maybe you could sell it, and do something else with your life," she said.

"Yeah," Mal said. "Sell it. For Alliance credits. What a _gorram_ nightmare."

After a pause, he stood. "I need to hit the head," he said, and wandered off.

He approached the latrine shack, a long, shallow outbuilding, and closed the door behind him. Inside was a long, wooden bench laid over the trench, with round holes cut in regular intervals. Opposite the "seats" were hangers with rolls of brown toilet paper, half of which were depleted.

He reached inside his shirt, and pulled out a long, gold chain with a solid gold cross at the end of it. He stared at it for a long moment before saying, "Buncha _gorram_ bullshit. Where were you when I needed you? When were you ever there for me?" Then he dropped it into the hole nearest to him.

He felt an instant stab of regret, but he told himself that that was just the dogma talking, there was no such thing as blasphemy, no such thing as sin, or morality, and to prove his point, he dropped his pants, sat down on the hole into which he had dropped the cross, and did his business for good measure.

When he was cleaned up and finished, he hitched up his pants and returned to the mess hall, whereupon he sat with his friends, and dug into his food, feeling for all the world as though a great weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

Tracy spoke up. "I hear the Alliance is going to be running Cortex transceiver satellites all along the shipping lanes, clear out to the rim. They say they're going to bring civilization to the outer worlds, starting with the Georgia System."

Monty stroked his beard. "Ain't no way they'll get that done overnight. It'll take them a long while to even do that, let alone fully occupy the outer rings. If I ever get out, I'm gonna get me a ship, stay as far away from the Alliance as I can for as long as I can. Maybe do some honest smuggling."

Now there was a thought, Mal pondered. He was half tempted to sign on to Monty's ship himself, to gain some distance from the Alliance and earn himself some badly needed freedom.

"Not me, " said Tracy. "I want to get back to St. Albans and reunite with my family. If they do let us go, I wonder if they'll repatriate us to our home worlds."

"They'll probably give us some money to keep ourselves afloat while we try to find work," said Zoe, "but as for repatriation, I wouldn't count on it. St. Albans is a long, long way away from here."

Mal still had money, assuming the Alliance hadn't crashed his accounts, and all of it in platinum, so he wasn't stuck with now worthless Independent credits. While smuggling was a thought, with his skill set as a fighter, the life of a criminal or even a mercenary didn't sound so bad.

For the first time in months, he felt hope, and possibilities were compelling in his mind. It was nice to have something to look forward to.

The four of them finished their meals and stepped out into the early afternoon sun. "What are you going to do if we get out of here, Zoe?"

Zoe's face didn't betray any emotion. "I'm going to make the Alliance pay. I'm sure something will turn up."

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on Persephone, Derrial Book – or at least that's what he had called himself for the last six years – made his way down the streets of the city with naught but the clothes on his back. He had been a spy for the Independents, working inside the Alliance military as an officer. In the closing days of the war, he had almost been exposed after a particularly devastating defeat at the hands of the Independents, but rather than putting him on trial, they had stuffed him into a lifeboat and cast him into space. It had taken him five months to earn enough for passage to a reasonably civilized world.

For the first time since he was a child, he was rudderless, with no idea of what to do. He looked up at the building in front of him and saw the neon cross in the window. He stepped inside and was greeted by a Shepherd.

"Can I help you, child?" the elderly man before him asked.

Book almost burst into tears. "I- I- I need help. I'm alone here; I have no one to count on, and nowhere to go."

The Shepherd smiled. "In Christ, one can always find succor," he said, spreading an arm in welcome and gesturing for him to come to the back of the establishment. "Let's get you some hot food and a cup of coffee, and we'll talk," he said.

Book was relieved. "I'd like that," he said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

 **(Author's Note: It is never adequately explained what happened immediately following the war. Sources do say that the Alliance initially intended to charge the surviving soldiers with war crimes, but eventually decided to put the matter behind them, and, as often happens in war, they let the rank-and-file soldiers return to their own lives. As for Book's origin story and eventual conversion, this is well documented in the graphic novel one-shot, "The Shepherd's Tale". If you are enjoying this story, please favorite and/or follow this story, or even do the same to me as an author. Also, if you have questions or comments, I would be thrilled to hear from my readers, either in the form of a PM or a review. I'm always interested in even constructive criticism.)**

 **(Next Time: As Many As Possible - Mal and Zoe begin a U-Day tradition, then head off to their respective "jobs", both on the wrong side of the law.)**


	3. As Many As Possible

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 3: As Many As Possible  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Funny, sir, how you always seem to find yourself in an Alliance-friendly bar come 'U' Day, looking for a quiet drink."**

 **-Zoe - Episode 2: "The Train Job"**

Zoe and Mal stepped into the bar, "County Claire" in New Jakarta on Boros. It was Unification Day, the first anniversary of the end of the Unification War, and people inside were celebrating. Actually celebrating. There were decorations, free rounds, and toasts as people derided the Browncoats and everything the Independents stood for. It was hard to believe that on a developed world like Boros, a world that had been conquered, that they would not only accept Alliance control, but would openly embrace it.

" _Wangbadan_ ," said Zoe as she sidled up to the bar.

"They can all _gen houzi bi diushi_ ," said Mal as he joined her.

"Who? Us?" asked a man next to them as he looked them up and down, noting Mal's long, brown coat. "They don't serve no _gorram_ Browncoats in here, ladies," he said and spat on the floor at Zoe's feet.

Mal smirked at the man. "We don't want no trouble, _xiaomeimei_ , we just want a quiet drink."

The man's friend stood up from his seat at the bar and stood beside his comrade. "You're not going to find a quiet _anything_ in here, dressed like that, _go-se_."

"Now, now, friend. We're all one big, happy family under the Alliance, ain't we? I've got a joke for you," Mal said. "How many dead Alliance Feds does it take to screw in a light bulb?"

The man bristled, but was piqued. "How many?"

He smirked again, as Zoe shrugged her hand into a pair of steel knuckles inside of her pocket. "As many as possible."

The first man stood up and took a swing at Mal, who easily dodged the drunken man's wild punch; Zoe promptly broke his nose with her steel-reinforced fist.

Several people from further down the bar joined in the fray, as Mal swung at the friend of the bent-nose now bleeding on the floor. As Zoe uppercut one man and sent him reeling, Mal picked up a glass beer bottle and shattered it against the side of another's head.

After landing nearly a half a dozen men on the floor, things were rapidly spiraling out of control, so Mal and Zoe beat a hasty retreat into the late morning sun, and sprinted down the street, away from several men who were giving chase.

After a block and a half, however, their pursuers gave up, and the former Browncoats ducked into an alley, panting and laughing at their victory against the _gorram_ Alliance.

"We oughta do this every year, Zoe. I ain't had fun like that since I got out of the camp."

Zoe smiled, despite herself. "I'm game if you are, sir."

Mal leaned against a brick wall. "I'm not your superior anymore, Zoe. You can stop calling me 'sir'."

Zoe leaned against the opposite wall and regarded him. "I told you, I'm career military. You'll always be my Sergeant, sir."

Mal didn't let on, but he secretly enjoyed being called "sir". Zoe had been utterly loyal and dependable during their time together in the 57th, and he felt that theirs was a friendship that would last a lifetime. And despite his insincere protest, she could go on calling him "sir" as long as she liked.

 **O-O-O**

Three hours later, Mal and four other men stepped into a bank, RMN Savings and Loan, and all whipped out their automatic rifles and handguns in unison. Mal wasn't the mastermind behind this heist, but as he had military command experience, he was the point man in this little adventure.

The bank was relatively quiet with only two customers at the teller windows. One of the customers, an elderly man, groaned as he tried to hide a sack of platinum coins behind his back.

"Good afternoon, ladies and menfolk. We are here to clean out this establishment, but what we are seeking to steal ain't yours, so everyone stay calm, and no folk will get hurt." Mal turned to the man with the sack and said, "How much do you have there, sir?"

The elderly man looked defeated and sad. "Five hundred in platinum," he answered with a furrowed brow, pleading with his eyes.

Mal turned to the teller in front of the man and pointed his gun at her. "Process his deposit, so his money won't be lost to him," he said to the frightened woman behind the counter, who took the sack and started counting the coins before entering the data into the computer.

"Make sure you give him a receipt," Mal said.

Tears were rolling down the old man's face. "Thank you, sir. Thank you SO much. You were a Browncoat during the war, weren't you? I can tell from the coat you're wearing."

Mal covered his accomplices and didn't look at the man as the others cleaned out the cash drawers, and one went with a big duffel into the vault with the branch manager. "Yes, I was a Sergeant. We were all Browncoats."

The man nodded, unseen by Mal. " _Gorram_ shame how you were all chewed up and spit out by that war. But you're a man of honor, otherwise you'd have just taken my money," he said as he took the receipt from the teller.

Mal turned to the woman at the other teller's window. "Are you here for a deposit, too?"

The young lady shook her head. "I was here for a withdrawal, although I suppose I'll have to go to a different branch, now."

"How much were you looking for?" he asked.

"Twenty five credits," she said.

"Do you have it yet?"

"No," she shook her head again.

Mal turned to one of his accomplices. "Give her fifty credits."

"Fine," the man said, "but it's coming out of your cut."

"Ain't no matter to me," Mal said as the accomplice handed the woman a wad of bills. "Now leave," he said to her. She made a dash for the door and ran out into the street, happy with her bounty. A sympathizer of the Independent cause, she did not contact the Feds, and went about her business.

The five men, now loaded up with cash from the now-empty bank, ran out into the street and got into a hover-van, which took off skyward and headed for the docks, where their trail would end. The Feds would assume that they had left on a ship, and be halfway to Beaumonde or Persephone or even some backwater before any kind of search was ordered.

 **O-O-O**

At six in the evening, Zoe met with her contact in the Dust Devils, an anti-Alliance terrorist group that sprung up after the end of the war. She sat across a booth from the middle-aged man, who slid a bag to her under the table in the dive in which they were sitting.

"Guaranteed to pass the security checkpoint. We have a map showing you exactly were to plant the package," he said.

" _Jingsai,_ " she said quietly. This was her fifth operation for the Dust Devils, and with it being "U-Day", it was sure to be her biggest. She dropped a quarter-credit bill on the table and got up to leave, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "Enjoy a couple of drinks on me; you have a lot to celebrate tonight if all goes well. And don't forget to tip the waitress this time. I've left you enough for that. Don't be a cheap-ass."

She went home, changed into her uniform, and reported, with the bag slung over her shoulder, to the Merry Maids at which she'd been working for the last half-year. The worst part of the task of cementing her cover was learning to smoke cigarettes, which she had always considered a filthy habit, and unbecoming a career military soldier like her. She got into the van, one of three required for this task, and when no one was looking, she placed the bag into the garbage bin of the rolling cleaning cart she was to use for the night's work.

The girls all passed inspection at the security checkpoint. They were essentially waved through, as there had been no changes in personnel in over three months, and the Fed guards at the administrative office and barracks building they were to clean knew all the girls that dispatch had sent them tonight.

For several hours, Zoe, or "Betty", as she was known to the Feds and the Merry Maids staff, swept and mopped floors, binned garbage, and wiped down computer screens. The barracks, in which several hundred Feds were housed, were maintained by the troops, but the offices were another matter, and that work was subcontracted to civilian services, in this case Merry Maids, a corporation that could trace its roots back to Earth-That-Was nearly six centuries ago.

At around 11:30PM, she came upon the fire hose compartment indicated on her map, and unzipped the bag at the bottom of the garbage bin. She took out a device the size of a toaster oven, placed it behind the rolled up hose, and set the timer for twenty-nine minutes. She then swung the arm of the hose's holder back, obscuring view of the device she had planted, and continued cleaning for another fifteen minutes.

At 11:45PM, she approached the security checkpoint. "Time for my break. I'm gasping for a nail," she said to the Fed at the security station by the rear entrance to the building. "Do I need to check out?"

She already knew the answer to this question, as she had asked it dozens of times before. In the beginning, the regular guard had her go through the process of checking through security, signing out and back in, but she had complained that it cut her break time nearly in half, so he had taken pity on her, and had let her pass with nothing more than a metal detector scan on her way back in. She didn't even need to scan her badge, which was good for her. There would be no record of her leaving the building.

Zoe stepped outside into the cool night air of Boros, and lit a Chunghwa Menthol Gold 100. She took a deep drag and began wandering toward the street and carefully shrugged out of her green polo shirt without breaking her cigarette, revealing a black t-shirt underneath. When she reached the sidewalk, she stuffed the shirt into a garbage receptacle by an empty bus stop, and began to make her way from the building. Every few seconds, she checked her watch.

At 11:59PM exactly, there was a massive explosion that knocked her off her feet. She turned and looked as the eastern half of the Federal building collapsed, its five stories pancaking down onto the barracks on the first floor and in the basement.

"As many as possible," Zoe repeated Mal's words from earlier in the day, then hailed a taxi. "Betty", along with the rest of the Merry Maids, would be believed to have perished in the blast.

Zoe sighed as she sat in the back of the hovercar. She'd have to get a new job.

 **O-O-O**

The next morning, Malcolm Reynolds arose in his studio apartment and turned on the news on his CortexVision. To his shock and delight, he learned that a bomb had gone off at the Fletcher Federal Building in New Jakarta, destroying the building and collapsing over half of it. Three hundred and fifty-six people were confirmed dead, over five hundred wounded and nearly two hundred still unaccounted for, as search and rescue teams combed the rubble for more victims and the occasional survivor trapped beneath the pile of garbage where the building had been.

Between his brawl with Zoe, his take from the bank heist, and now this terrorist attack, which the Dust Devils had taken credit for, "U-Day" had turned out to be a pretty good one after all.

 **(Author's Note: Zoe's time in the Dust Devils, while never mentioned in the series or the film, is well-documented in the comics. I decided to incorporate it into** _ **Deleted Scenes**_ **because it sounded like a fascinating period in Zoe's life, and worth exploring. Also, as "Boros" is Indonesian for "extravagant", I decided to make its capital New Jakarta, after the capital of Indonesia.)**

 **(Next Time: A Ship Would Bring You Work - Mal and Zoe settle their differences and Mal shows her his newest acquisition, a Firefly-class Transport.)**


	4. A Ship Would Bring You Work

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 4: A Ship Would Bring You Work  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **A ship would bring you work. A gun would help you keep it. A Captain's job was simple: Find a crew, find a job, keep flying."**

 **-Shepherd Derrial Book - Intro**

It had been over four years since the war had ended, and Mal was still on Boros. He sat in a booth in a bar that catered to former Browncoats, but the bar was mostly empty today. Many of the former POWs had signed onto various ships, and headed out towards the Rim. Monty was already out in the 'Verse, chasing his dreams, along with Renshaw and countless others. While in the camp, he had intended to sell his land on Shadow, only to learn that in the last year of the war, the Alliance had carpet-bombed it with fusion weapons, and left it a smoking, radioactive waste. Since then, he had been robbing banks and armored cars with other former Browncoats, and recently he had been chasing a dream of his own. There was still work to be done, but this was the most important part.

Zoe Alleyne entered the establishment and began to scan the tables, booths, and bar before making eye contact with Mal, and approaching his booth. She stood in front of him, the tension between them palpable.

"Sarge," she said simply, without emotion.

"Sit down, Zoe. We have a lot to talk about."

Zoe sat down opposite Mal and waved for a waitress. As Mal sipped from a bottle of cider, Zoe ordered some mulled wine.

Once they were alone again, Mal sighed. "It's been a while, Zoe."

"It has, sir."

"I have a business proposition for you, but before that, I need to know: Are you finished with the Dust Devils?"

Zoe grimaced. "I am, sir."

"Are you sure?" Mal asked, seriously.

"Yes, sir. I haven't been to a cell meeting in over a year. I'm done. I've had my fill of revenge, and none of it ever made a _gorram_ bit of difference, anyway. The Alliance is here, and they're here to stay. Ain't nothing I can do to change that."

"Good," Mal said. "You know I took a beating for you over your affiliation with them."

"A beating, sir?"

"Yeah. Alliance operative beat my _pigu_ from Jianying to Greenleaf and back again, thinking I was the one behind the bombings. He couldn't prove anything, but he knew a member of the 57th was involved, so he figured it was me, and made sure I paid for it. I didn't give you up."

"I see. Thank you. And… I'm sorry." Zoe regarded her wine as the waitress delivered it, then picked up the mug and took a sip.

"What have you been doing with yourself?" Mal took another sip of his cider.

"Working in a factory, spot-welding and soldering. It's deadly dull work, but it pays the bills. You?"

"You know, life of crime," he said. "Pulled a few heists, saved up some money, woulda sold my ranch on Shadow if I could, but the Alliance put paid to that possibility. Actually, that's all part of why I asked you here today. Finish your wine; I got something I gotta show you."

 **O-O-O**

The pair exited the bar and got onto a four-wheel off-roader with an alcohol engine that Mal had bought used. He called it the "Mule", and they drove out of the city and through the countryside toward a long stretch of prairie filled with derelict and used spacecraft, mostly transports, most of which were decades old.

Mal drove them through the lot, past ship after ship, before coming to a transport with a boxy bottom, a bridge extending out on the front of the top of the craft, and a bulb for a tail. "It's a Firefly," Mal said, and pulled the Mule to a halt in front of a ramp at the base of the ship. Zoe got off as well, and joined Mal at the top of the ramp, whereupon he pushed the inner airlock doors apart; the ship obviously had no power. "She's an ought-three, the best they ever made," he said.

Zoe noted that in addition to lying on top of the boxy protrusion on the bottom of the ship, the vessel had four landing struts, like bendable legs, each ending in a "foot" that rested upon the ground. Judging from the sand that had half covered the foot nearest to her, the craft had obviously not moved in years.

"She's also at least forty years old, sir," Zoe said with concern.

He finished pushing the doors apart and led her into the cargo bay. "Well?" he asked.

Zoe looked at the empty cargo bay and the network of catwalks that framed it. "You paid money for this, sir? On purpose?"

Mal was a little taken aback. "Wha- come on, seriously, Zoe, what do you think?"

"Honestly, sir, I think you got robbed."

"Robbed?" Mal was clearly offended. "Wha? What do you mean?"

"It's a piece of _fei-oo_ ," Zoe said.

" _Fei-oo_ ," Mal repeated. "O- Okay, she won't be winning any beauty contests anytime soon, but she is solid. Ship like this… be with you 'till the day you die," he said as the pair wandered deeper into the cargo hold.

Zoe turned toward Mal. "Because it's a death trap."

"That's not… You are very much lacking in imagination."

The pair continued their wandering, "I imagine that's so, sir."

"Come on, you haven't even seen most of it; let me show you the rest. And- and try to see past what she is, and onto what she can be." Mal led her towards the back of the hold, towards the bulkhead to the common area, the passenger dorms, and the infirmary.

"What's that, sir?" Zoe asked.

"Freedom, is what," Mal answered.

"I meant, what's that?" Zoe repeated, nodding at a pile of dried feces on the floor.

"Oh, yeah, just step around that. Think something musta been living in here." Mal said, almost apologetically. "Tell ya, Zoe, we get a mechanic, get her up and running again, hire a good pilot, maybe a cook, live like real people. Small crew, them as feel the need to be free, take jobs as they come, they never have to be under the heel of nobody ever again. No matter how far the arm of the Alliance might get, we'll just get ourselves a little further."

"Get her running again," Zoe said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Mal said.

"So not runnin' now?" she asked.

"Not so much, but she will. I already know what I'm gonna call her. I got a name all picked out," Mal said as the pair stepped through the bulkhead to the aft section of the lower deck.

"What's that?" Zoe asked.

"Serenity," Mal said proudly. "Our defiant stand in the face of the monolithic, dictatorial Alliance. You would be my first officer, and as such would get fifteen percent of everything we earned, skimmed right off the top."

Zoe considered for a long moment, then smiled. "I like it. The name, I mean. It's fitting."

Mal proceeded to show Zoe around the ship, , including the kitchen and the bridge, before ending in the bunk that would be Zoe's if she took the job. She marveled at the space, once she had climbed down the ladder and into the room. "This is bigger than my apartment in New Jakarta," she said.

"Your own, private room. We've got enough bunks for you, me, a pilot, and a mechanic. Then we have passenger dorms for eight, so we can take on passengers as we move around the 'Verse, and then two shuttles. I was thinking, once we get up and running, we could even rent one of them out to a trader or somethin'."

"You've obviously given this a lot of thought, sir," said Zoe, sitting down on the bed. "This is surprisingly comfortable."

"I've given it even more thought than you think, Zoe," Mal said. "Monty told me that Fireflies are ideal for smugglin'; they have nooks and crannies everywhere, and I figure that we can use as least one of them as a contraband hold. You and I could even take on jobs as hired guns, so our training in the military won't go to waste. And best of all, we can get the hell off of Boros, and get back out into the 'Verse." He paused for a long moment. "So, what do you say?"

Zoe got off of the bed and stood, stepping over to Mal. "You had me at 'Serenity', sir." She held out her hand.

Mal took her hand and shook it. "It's gonna be fun, Zoe. You'll see. We'll make a decent living, and thumb our noses at the Alliance every chance we get."

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on Osiris, Simon Tam regarded his father, an expression of rage barely hidden.

"I've had my doubts about the Academy, Simon, ever since River's letters stopped coming, but your assertion that she's being hurt there… There's nothing that I can do without jeopardizing my position."

Simon's stunned face was tinged with ridicule. "You care more about your position than you do your own daughter?" he asked with incredulity.

"I suppose you'd rather I raise a stink and risk my job on the Board? Then your mother and I would be out on the streets and we still wouldn't have River back." His face was stoic, emotionless. It was as if, to him, River was already dead.

"I'm going to request that I be allowed to visit her," Simon said. "We'll see if anything comes of that."

"You do that, Simon, but I warn you not to make too many waves."

Simon waved the letters he had just received from River in front of his father's face. "Her life is in danger. You might not be willing to lift a finger to save her, but I am. I'll do whatever it takes to get her out of that place," he said defiantly.

 **O-O-O**

In the Academy, River Tam sat across a balding doctor who was conducting a therapy session. Her long hair was disheveled and she was unwashed as she sat across from Doctor Whedon in her hospital gown.

"You're very quiet today," said Doctor Whedon. "How did your session with Doctor Matthias go?"

River didn't look at the Doctor. Instead, she looked down at her lap, before looking up at the two-way mirror behind him, where she knew other doctors and perhaps even the Alliance brass were watching her. "He gave me a mission," she said after a long moment.

"Really?" Doctor Whedon said after a pause. "Did he tell you your mission out loud, or did you just 'hear' it?"

River stared at the table between them as Doctor Whedon held a pen above a sheaf of blank paper. "He played hide-and-seek with me," she said.

"Doctor Matthias?" Whedon asked.

"My brother," River said without hesitation, almost interrupting Whedon. "He's a Doctor. He thinks he can find me, but I am deep down… And I do not make… a sound."

Doctor Whedon ignored most of this. "River, what mission did Doctor Matthias give you?" he asked.

"I can't tell you," she said.

"You can tell me anything, you know that."

"Can't," she said. "So… I'll have to write it down." She held her hand open above the table, waiting for Doctor Whedon to give her his pen.

Whedon held out the pen for her, and she took it, then leapt to her feet and jammed it into his throat, severing a major artery. The Doctor gurgled as blood poured down his shirt, and struggled to dislodge the pen from his neck. He managed to pull it out and dropped it onto the table, then collapsed to the floor, dead.

River suddenly pressed her face and bloody hand against the mirror behind Whedon's body. "I can see you," she said to whoever was on the other side, and smiled.

 **(Author's Note: Part of this Ficlet can be found verbatim at the beginning of Episode 8: "Out of Gas". The scene between Simon and his father is a re-imagining of an actual deleted scene from Episode 5: "Safe", and the closing scene with River is verbatim from "The R. Tam Sessions", a web series developed as a promotional release for the film "Serenity". The doctor in the video is Joss Whedon, Firefly's creator, with Alan Tudyk ("Wash") doing the voice. Finally, Mal's "beating" at the hands of an Alliance operative who believed he was with the Dust Devils is documented in the comics.)**

 **(Next Time: The Little Engine That Could - With the engine finally online thanks to ship's mechanic Bester, the crew prepares to leave for their first job, and the ship's maiden voyage.)**


	5. The Little Engine That Could

**.**

 **.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 5: The Little Engine That Could  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Genius. Nobody's ever called me that before. Shiny!"  
-Bester - Episode 8: "Out of Gas"**

"Wait, no, here it is. I see it," Bester said under the watchful eye of Captain Malcolm Reynolds, and pulled out the primary atmo feed processor. "We're gonna need a new one. That's twelve parts so far."

"What's the damage going to be?" Zoe asked, leaning against the wall next to the bulkhead.

"I'd say about two-hundred and fifty credits for the processor. The grav thrust can be bypassed and rewired; I can do that myself. Ain't gonna take me more than thirty, maybe forty hours' work for everything, but we have another problem," Bester, his long blonde hair just above his shoulders stepped to a workbench. He was shirtless, his tattoos on his arms and chest on display for anyone who cared to gaze upon his muscular form, and spun off the cap from a water bottle before taking a long swig from it.

" _Another_ problem?" asked Mal, deflating. "What's that?"

Bester returned the cap to the bottle before placing the bottle back onto the workbench. "The port compression coil is in pretty bad shape. It's gonna need to be replaced, eventually."

Mal closed his eyes; this was a nightmare. "How much is that gonna run me, Bester?"

"They're not too expensive, relatively speaking, for a standard radeon accelerator core. Maybe two grand for a new one – that's credits, not platinum – but we could probably get away with a rebuilt one for about twelve-hundred."

Mal squeezed his eyes shut tighter and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Can we go without it?"

Bester shrugged. "I might be able to get a few thousand hours in the Black without replacing it, but it's a critical engine part. If she goes, the engine won't spin. We'd need a tow. But she's gonna require a lot of tender loving care to keep her turning in the meantime," he said.

"Then we go without," Mal said. "We can't afford it, not new or used, not yet, anyway. Especially not with all these other parts we need to replace," he replied with obvious irritation.

"Yes, sir, Captain," Bester said. "Do you want me to get those other parts ordered?"

Bester was good at his job, as far as Mal could tell, but he didn't trust Bester with his money. "You get a detailed list to Zoe, and she'll order it over the Cortex," he said. "In the meantime, you do what you can to get her running before the parts arrive."

"You got it," he said. "Sir," he added after a moment. He turned back to the engine, and dropped the control rods into the spent atomic matter pile and lowered the four lead-lined plates to encase the pile. "And we're gonna need to pay a hundred and fifty credit fee to dispose of this," he said, grasping the handle and lifting the pile from the core.

"No," Mal said. "We'll dump it in the lot and let them worry about it. I ain't gonna spend a hundred and fifty _gorram_ credits to get rid of someone else's problem."

"Yes, sir," Bester said, placing the pile module on the floor of the engine room.

Zoe and Mal made their way back towards the kitchen, leaving Bester to work. Alfred Alphonse Bester, age 28, had come recommended by Renshaw, and had served as assistant mechanic on three separate, larger vessels. Based on how he had zeroed in on Serenity's engine problems, he appeared to be more than ready to work without a net. Another week, maybe two, and they'd be ready to fly.

"Zoe, we've got three replies for our ad for a pilot; I've already set up interviews with two of them. And then there's a fourth I managed to talk into interviewing. His name is Hoban Washburne, from Greenleaf. He was second in his class at flight school, beaten out only by Mr. Universe," he said. "I really want this guy. Renshaw's been trying to get him, but I think I might be able to convince him to join the crew if I offer him ten percent."

"If you think that's best, sir," Zoe said, pulling out a tea set from the kitchen cubbies and spooning some tea leaves into the pot's strainer. "Want some?"

"Please," said Mal, and Zoe poured enough water from the hot tap for both of them.

"Are we even gonna have enough to fuel the ship after you pay for all those parts, sir?"

"Not if I had bought the compression coil," Mal said, "but we'll be fine for a while, especially if we make some decent money on our first few jobs. And speaking of jobs, I got us our first endeavor."

"Oh?" Zoe said, pouring the tea into two cups, and carrying them over to the table before sitting down.

"Yep. A fella by the name of 'Badger' on Persephone needs some contraband shipped from Boros to Whitefall, the fourth moon of Athens."

"Is he willing to wait for us to get up and running?" Zoe asked.

"I told him it would be a couple of weeks before we were space-worthy, but yeah, he says he's in no rush. And apparently he's always looking for new faces to spread work around to, so his existing stable don't get uppity and start demanding more money."

"Lovely," Zoe said. "A penny-pincher. Just what we need."

"Hey," Mal said. "It earned us some work, and I ain't gonna turn down four hundred in platinum for a ride to Whitefall. Then, once we're there, we look for more work."

A loud, regular clanging could be heard coming down the corridor from the engine room, as if someone was banging on something with a hammer. Mal rolled his eyes. "Bester! Could you get Zoe that list before you take the engine completely apart?" he yelled at the door.

"Sure thing!" shouted Bester, and the banging stopped.

Mal sighed, then turned back to Zoe. "What was that package you had delivered yesterday, anyway?"

Zoe smiled and unbuttoned three buttons on her shirt to reveal a rippled black shirt underneath.

"An undershirt?" he asked. "Don't you have enough clothes already?"

She smirked at him. "It's not just any shirt, sir. It's armor. It'll stop anything short of a Teflon-coated round from an assault rifle at point-blank range, and even stop a knife. I figure if we're gonna be smuggling contraband, eventually somebody's gonna take a shot at me. I wanted to be prepared."

Mal smiled. "How much did that set you back?" he asked.

"Fifty credits."

Mal whistled. "No, thanks. I think I'd rather be shot again than pay that kind of money," he said.

 **O-O-O**

Ten days later, Hoban "Wash" Washburne was carrying the last of the boxes of his personal effects to his bunk. He placed the box on the floor before kicking open the ladder-door and dropping the box the ten feet to the bottom of the drop. There was nothing breakable inside the box, after all, and he wouldn't have been able to easily carry the box down the ladder.

He smoothed his mustache and began to descend, before stopping as a voice over the P.A. system on board the ship made a vessel-wide announcement:

"This is the Captain. I need all personnel in the engine room immediately."

Wash sighed and climbed back up the ladder, then headed aft, meeting up with Zoe in the kitchen. He could already tell that she didn't like him; she had even frisked him when he had first come aboard for his interview, but she was pretty spry, and he was determined to win her over.

"Zoe," he said simply as they both stepped toward the corridor to the engine room.

"Hoban," she said, coldly.

"I told you," he said, stepping through the bulkhead, "just call me 'Wash'. Everyone does."

"I'll think about it," she said.

A few seconds later, the pair joined Bester and Mal in the engine room, and Mal had a huge grin on his face.

"We have a green light," said Bester.

" _Jingsai_ ," said Zoe, happily.

"Captain, will you do the honors?" Bester asked. Zoe pulled a Capture out of her pocket and began shooting video of the event.

Mal stepped over to the Engagement Post on the foreside of the engine core. Smiling, he pushed it portside, and with a groan, the engine began to cycle, the core spinning lazily as the entire ship sprang to life.

" _Zhen mei naixing de Fozu!_ " Mal exclaimed. "Ain't that a joyful sight?"

Zoe zoomed in on Mal's face. He turned to the Capture and said, "Ladies and menfolk, Serenity is ready for her maiden voyage!"

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on Sihnon, at St. Francis hospital in Capital City, Inara Serra buried her face in her hands. Doctor Bentine placed a hand gently on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

"How long do I have, Doctor?" she asked, refusing to pull her hands away from her eyes.

The Doctor sighed. "With xenopolycythemia, it's tough to say. You could be dead in a year, or could live without pain and symptoms for ten. It could become symptomatic at any time, or it could lay dormant for over a decade. There's really no way of knowing, and despite our advances in medical technology, we have no tests to predict."

Twenty minutes later, Inara was flying back to House Madrasa in the back of a taxi. All her hard work, her ambition to become House Priestess before turning 35, all for nothing. All those ambitions seemed so silly now, now that she had a death sentence hanging over her head like the Sword of Damocles.

Once home, she returned to her room in the House, her face betraying no emotion as she walked through the corridors, past male and female Companions and acolytes alike, then, once the door was closed, the collapsed onto her bed and began to weep unashamedly.

When her crying had softened to sighs, she thought to herself that she would leave Sihnon at last, the shining ocean of light that was the planet of her birth, and a world she had never even thought to leave before. She would sign onto a ship, perhaps a luxury liner, as their Staff Companion, and service clients as she saw the 'Verse.

She wanted to see as much of the worlds as she could, in what little time she had left.

 **(Author's Note: Yes, for those astute readers familiar with classic science fiction authors, I did name Bester after the author Alfred Bester, writer of "Supertoys Last All Summer Long", the series of stories that later were turned into the Stephen Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick film, "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence". Also, the fact of Inara dying of a terminal illness was revealed by the creators of the show following its cancellation, although they gave no details beyond that simple point, so I filled in some blanks for the sake of my ficlet. Yes, Xenopolycythemia** _ **is**_ **the same disease that Doctor McCoy was dying from in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode, "For the World is Hollow, and I Have Touched the Sky". Don't judge.)**

 **(Next Time: Maiden Voyage - The ship heads for Whitefall to complete their first job, and celebrates their maiden voyage.)**


	6. Maiden Voyage

**.  
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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 6: Maiden Voyage  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Oh, we're in no rush. I like an easy, languorous journey."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 8: "Out of Gas"**

 _Serenity_ was loaded up with legal cargo, mostly processed, non-perishable food, and now, in the dead of night, Mal and Zoe waited by the top of the ramp as two pairs of headlights made their way across the lot of derelict ships towards the lone Firefly that was off in its own corner of the prairie, like a child at a school lunch table that nobody wanted to sit with.

"Do you know what this contraband is?" Zoe asked.

"Nope," said Mal. "Never asked. I figured that with the people we're dealing with, it's best not to ask."

"Just tell me we're not transportin' slaves, Captain." Zoe deadpanned.

"If we were running slaves, I'm sure Badger or one of his men would have said something, so we could have gotten bunks and rations for them." He paused. "Besides, slaves will be the one thing we will never take aboard _Serenity_. I give you my word of that."

"Good," said Zoe. "I don't think I could stomach being a slave trader, indentured men or not."

The trucks pulled up to the ramp, and several men jumped out and began unloading crates and carrying them up the ramp, making a pile of them in the cargo bay. Mal's contact for Badger's syndicate, a man by the name of "Syrene", came up to him. "I hope you have a smuggler's hold," he said. "You're gonna lose your ship, and Badger's cargo, if you run into an Alliance patrol without one."

Mal smiled. "Tell Badger he ain't got nothing to worry about. We got ourselves a smuggler's hold, and we're taking a roundabout way to Whitefall; even if we do get boarded, ain't not way the _gorram_ Alliance is ever gonna find the goods."

Syrene nodded, all business. "Good. I'll tell the boss. Five days?"

"Five days, maybe less if we burn hard enough," Mal responded.

The men finished their unloading and got back into the trucks, leaving the contraband behind. As they drove off, Mal punched a couple of buttons on the panel sticking up from the floor by the cargo bay's airlock, raising the ramp and closing the inner door. "Zoe, help me with these _gorram_ crates," he ordered.

"Yes, sir," she said, grabbing the handle on one side of the top crate and lifting it with the Captain. He led her over to an area near the portside stairs to the catwalk above, whereupon they lowered the crate to the floor. Mal knelt down and dislodged a triangular piece of wall plating, revealing a hidden, empty space within the wall.

Mal shoved the contraband, which he figured was almost certainly drugs, probably drops, as far back into the hold as he could before he and Zoe picked up the next crate and repeated the process. When all the crates were loaded, Mal replaced the wall plate, effectively hiding the cargo from prying eyes.

Mal got on the P.A. and said… What would he say? He wanted his orders to weigh anchor and take off for the Black to have a certain style, and be repeated every time they took off for a new destination. After a moment's thought, he clicked the button to activate the microphone and raised it close to his mouth. "Wash, take us out of the world."

Zoe and Mal then joined Wash and Bester on the Bridge; the ship was already airborne and headed for orbit. "Take us to a maintenance station so we can refuel the ship," Mal said, "Then set a course for Whitefall."

"You got it, Mal," Wash said, and punched a few buttons into one of the keyboards on his panel as the engine cycled faster, and the side thrusters tilted aft, and earthward. "We'll be out of atmo in five minutes."

The ship rose majestically into the night sky, lit by Boros's two moons. Within fifteen minutes, they were fueling up, and watched various craft in the maintenance bays in the Xiu Skyplex.

"We're finally off of Boros," Mal said. "I was beginning to think we'd never make it out of that place."

"It _is_ nice to be back in the Black, sir," Zoe said.

The radio crackled to life. "Fueling complete, Firefly Transport _Serenity_ ," said a voice over the comm. "Cost is posted to your readout."

Mal swiped his ident card into the ship's reader and punched a few buttons on the screen, paying for the fuel and completing the transaction. "Wash, take us on to Whitefall, hard burn. I'd like us to get there a little early and make a good first impression for Badger."

"Yes sir," Wash said, and disengaged the docking clamps from the Skyplex fueling station.

Mal and Zoe made their way to the aft bulkheads of the Bridge before Mal stopped. "Oh, Wash, you and Bester stop by the dining room when we're underway and on autopilot. I mean to start a little tradition on our new ship." He left the room without waiting for an answer.

Once _Serenity_ had cleared the system's traffic and was safely on her way to Whitefall, Wash and Bester wandered into the room. "What do you got for us, Captain?" Wash asked.

Mal got up from the table where he and Zoe were sitting, and opened a couple of the kitchen cubbies, pulling out a bottle and four mugs. He placed everything on the table and cracked open the bottle. "I picked up a bottle of Jack Daniels, real _gorram_ Jack Daniels whiskey, to toast our maiden voyage. Ordinarily, ship Captains would break a bottle of champagne or whiskey over the prow of a ship when she was christened, but I ain't one to waste good alcohol, so…" He finished pouring a double shot into each mug and passed the mugs around.

" _Jingsai!"_ exclaimed Bester.

"Shiny," said Wash.

He raised his mug and smiled. "To our good ship, _Serenity_. May she always light our way through the Black. May she always ferry us safely to our destination, and keep us safe from the Reavers, the Alliance, and whatever else might seek to end our journeys before our times. And most of all, may she make us all a family."

"Amen!" said Bester. Zoe smiled, and raised her mug to her lips.

When they had downed their drinks, Zoe turned to the pilot. Something about him had bothered her, but she couldn't put her finger on why until now. "Wash, shave off your mustache."

Wash quirked a brow. "O-okay. Why?"

Zoe's face betrayed no emotion. "Because I ordered you to."

Mal chuckled, and Wash agreed. "Alright. I'll shave it first thing tomorrow morning, before first watch," he said.

 **O-O-O**

Three and a half days later, a clean shaven Wash guided _Serenity_ towards Whitefall, deftly navigating a debris field from an Alliance carrier that had blown out some time before. "I think we just found our next job, ladies and menfolk," said the Captain. "We'll bid on salvage rights on that carrier after we unload, assuming anyone ain't already picked her clean."

Wash nodded, and began to guide the ship into atmo, the flames of re-entry flashing across the windows of the Bridge as the pilot brought her down with a practiced hand, settling onto the ground outside of town with such a gentle touch that it was barely noticeable.

"You're good," Zoe said to him as Mal made his way out of the Bridge. Wash flipped the controls over into standby mode and powered down the engines and the grav thrust. "As good as they say."

"I'm glad you think so, Zoe," said Wash, then was surprised as she placed a hand tenderly on his shoulder, then turned and straddled him in his chair before placing her lips gently against his and kissing him.

When she broke the kiss, Wash looked up at her, puzzled. "I thought you didn't like me," he said.

Zoe smiled, then kissed him again. "It was the mustache. It bugged the _go-se_ out of me. Besides, you make me laugh," she said.

"So that's why you ordered me to shave it?" he asked, a grin on his face.

"Uh huh," she nodded.

He unbuckled his flight belt, then pulled it around to encompass Zoe's spry form as well, and clicked the belt into place. "There," he said. "Now you're mine, and can't get away."

Zoe chuckled. "This is insubordination, mister," she said with a smile on her face.

"It is," he replied with a smile. "I guess you'll just have to take me down to the cargo hold and flog me. To keep discipline in the ranks, I mean."

"I know what you meant," she said. "You know the Captain has a policy against shipboard romances," she said whimsically.

"That's insubordination, too," Wash said. "I think we're facing a breakdown in the chain of command."

"Then I think it's time for a little mutiny," she laughed.

"You get his arms, and I'll get his legs," Wash said.

"What'll we do with him? Throw him out the airlock?" she asked.

Wash laughed. "Whatever I have to do to keep you kissing me," he said.

She leaned in, the flight belt cutting into her hips as she did so, and kissed him passionately.

 **O-O-O**

Four hours later, as night fell, a truck approached _Serenity_ and picked up the cargo, a man named Cyrus handing over the promised sack of platinum coins. When the disreputable men had left, Mal had Wash attach the trailer to the Mule and drive the crew into town to provision, and see if there were any restaurants he could take them to to treat them to celebrate the completion of their first mission.

That night, they ate well, feasting on thick horse steaks and potatoes slathered in real butter. It was an expensive meal, and the Captain was being uncharacteristically generous, but he was happy, and wanted to reward his crew for a job well done. The infinite possibilities of the Black lay before them, and a life of crime to keep them paid, fed, and housed.

After dinner, Zoe took them to a weapons shop and picked out a large and unusual firearm, an antique Winchester "Mare's Leg", which was larger than a pistol, and reloaded like a lever action rifle. After trying it out in the shooting range, she declared that she was absolutely in love with it, and spent nearly a quarter of her cut on it, as well as several boxes of ammunition.

When they were finished, they carried their goods back on the Mule and returned to the ship, unloading groceries and sundries alike. In the morning, Mal and Zoe would return to town to sell their cargo to the town grocer's, and speak to the local Prefect about bidding on salvage rights to that wreck in high orbit, to see if they could make some more money, and maybe even pick up some passengers before they left for their next destination. Failing that, perhaps they could go to Persephone to meet this "Badger", and see if he had any more work for them.

Mal slept well that night, truly pleased that his dream had at last come true.

What he didn't know, however, was that neither Wash nor Zoe slept alone.

 **(Author's Note: I am not aware, personally, of any specific details of the beginning of Wash and Zoe's relationship. If I contradicted something in the novels or the comic books, I humbly apologize, but, lacking any hard information besides the fact that it is implied that it was Wash's mustache that turned off Zoe to Wash when they first met, I took license in shipping the two.)**

 **(Next Time: Rapidly Losing Patience - Mal is shot in the leg due to a fight over salvage rights by an elderly local on Whitefall named Patience. The crew must band together to save Mal without the benefit of a Doctor.)**


	7. Rapidly Losing Patience

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 7: Rapidly Losing Patience  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **We may not have parted on the best of terms. I realize certain words were exchanged. Also, certain... bullets. But that's air through the engine. It's past. We're business people. Besides, your days of fightin' over salvage rights are long behind you, what I hear; what are you, mayor now?"  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 1: "Serenity"**

"Rutting old _biao zi_ shot me in my _gorram_ leg!" Mal yelled as Zoe helped him onto the Mule and climbed onto the driver's seat. Another bullet struck the dirt road as Zoe returned fire with her Mare's Leg, causing the trio of assailants to take cover behind a mail box and a horse trough. Further fire erupted, sending up dust from the impacts in the middle of the street as the pair sped down the lane and out of town. As they rode, Mal fired his pistol towards the front of the tavern, buying them the time they needed to get out of range.

It had started innocently enough. After a tense breakfast, during which Mal noticed that Wash and Zoe sat suspiciously as far away from one another as they could, Mal and Zoe took the Mule into town and made a deal to sell not part, not half, but all of their cargo to the grocer on the main drag, after showing him a manifest of what they were carrying. They'd even gotten a good price, then they radioed to Wash and Bester to inform them that a delivery truck would be driving out to pick up their haul.

Afterwards, they had gone to the local administrative office to talk to the Alliance Prefect to put in a bid to salvage the destroyed Alliance carrier in high orbit, but word had gotten back to an elderly woman named Patience, who also had eyes on the carrier. She had bought Zoe and Mal a drink in the local tavern, and along with two of her men, made her intentions clear.

Harsh words had turned into overt threats, and when Mal and Zoe had exited the establishment after abruptly ending the encounter, the trio had followed them into the street, drawing and opening fire before either of them knew what was happening. Zoe took a hit directly in the back, her armor deflecting the bullet, but she was sure she'd have one hell of a bruise tomorrow. Mal wasn't so lucky, if the blood seeping through his pants and down his leg was any indication.

Zoe sped across the countryside towards the ship and called over the boxy radios the Captain had issued to each of them before they had left Boros. "Wash, lower the ramp and open her up. We've got incoming wounded; the Captain's been shot!"

Zoe pulled the Mule into the now-empty cargo bay and ran it clear to the aft bulkhead before screeching to a stop. Wash and Bester were waiting, and both helped the Captain up and supported him, each of his arms over their shoulders as he hopped through the bulkhead and toward the Infirmary, which Zoe had already entered and begun powering up the diagnostic systems.

Wash and Bester helped the Captain into the chair in the center of the room. She tossed a pneumatic injector to Wash. "Dope him," she said as she pulled out a pair of shears.

The pilot injected the captain in the throat while Zoe cut his pants off, exposing a through-and-through pair of wounds in the front and back of Mal's right thigh. "From the bleeding, it looks like she missed all the major arteries," she said, and pulled out a scanner, holding it over the wound, and turning her head to the screen. "You got real lucky, sir. Ain't no shrapnel, either. Thank the joyful and dancing Buddha that she weren't using no hollowpoints, or we'd be in real trouble."

"Someone wanna tell me what the _tian xaiode_ happened out there?" Wash asked.

The Captain groaned, and appeared to be in a narcotic haze from his injection. "I could get used to this stuff," he said with a sigh.

"Some _biao zi_ called Patience O'Reilly didn't take kindly to us putting in a bid on that carrier," Zoe said as she pulled a long rod out of a drawer and approached the Captain. "Sir, I gotta use the cauterizer. This is gonna hurt."

Mal squeezed his eyes shut. "Don't talk about it, just do it," he said.

She inserted the rod into the wound on the top of Mal's thigh, causing him to cry out, and pushed it in as far as she could before pushing a button on the handle. Mal screamed again as the cauterizer did its job, sealing the burst and ruptured blood vessels inside of his leg. Then she withdrew the device and caused Mal to yelped two more times as she did the same to the exit wound on the back of his thigh, while Bester held Mal's leg aloft.

"Anyway," Zoe said as she rifled through one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of suture kits, pulling one open. "Patience and a couple of her men opened up on us in the street. I took a hit in the back."

Wash stepped behind Zoe and looked at the back of her jacket, which had a small hole in it, dead center. "You have a hole in your back. Why aren't you dead?" he asked, concerned.

"I wear armor," she said, beginning to stitch the Captain's wound. "Cap is too cheap to buy any, not that a DeflectTex shirt would have stopped a leg wound anyway."

The Captain gritted his teeth as Zoe continued her stitching. "Dope him again, Wash." Wash injected the Captain a second time while Bester watched from his perch on top of the counter to the right of the chair.

"You know, Zoe," Mal said half-drunkenly, "we could probably use a Doctor on this ship."

"Of course, Mal," Wash said. "As soon as you hit the Trans-Alliance Lottery, we can get a Doctor, a nurse, and plate the whole ship in gold."

"Can't plate _Serenity_ in gold," slurred the Captain. "Someone'll steal my boat."

"He's lost a lot of blood," Bester observed. "Shouldn't we do, like, an infusion or transfusion or whatever?" he asked.

Zoe continued stitching as she spoke. "Even if we had a donor, I don't know how to spike a vein," she said.

"I'm a universal donor," Wash said.

"And I used to shoot slice, when I was younger," Bester said. "I can find a vein and spike both of them."

Zoe nodded her head towards the cabinets behind her. "There's a sterile bottle and some IV lines back there," she said.

Bester slid off the counter and started rooting around in the cabinets, finding what he needed. He had Wash roll up his sleeve and wiped down the inside of his elbow with a sterile pad. "This is going to sting a bit," he said to Wash, then spiked his arm. Blood began to flow through the tube and collected in the bottle as Wash sat still on a rolling stool.

While they waited for the bottle to fill, Zoe had Mal lie on his side and stitched the exit wound, then injected him with Isoprovalin, an immunization booster they had stocked. "That will prevent any infection," she said.

In time, Bester took the bottle, filled with a pint of Wash's blood, and hung it from an IV stand, changing out the needle and spiking the Captain. "From the look of his pants, he lost more than a pint, but he should probably be okay, once he has this in him," he said.

"Thank you," said Zoe. "Who'd have thought that your drug escapades in your youth would come in handy?"

"Hey," Bester said. "It's like the Captain says, we're a family, right? That means we all pull our weight and do what we can."

"Wash," the Captain croaked. "Take us out of the world. Get us to Persephone. Contact Badger and find out where we should land."

 **O-O-O**

Later, for dinner, Mal hobbled into the dining room in a bathrobe and sat down heavily at his seat. The ship was underway, and as Zoe didn't cook, Wash and Bester had cobbled something together for the evening meal; the Captain fixed himself a plate of molded protein and canned vegetables, pouring himself a glass of water from a pitcher.

"You up for joining us, Captain? We could bring something down to you in your bunk," Wash said.

"Ain't the first time I been shot," Mal said, still slurring a little from the narcotics in his system. "Far from it. If I took it easy every time someone put a hole in me, I'd never get nothing done," he said.

"We're just glad you're okay, sir," Zoe said.

"That was quick thinking on that blood transfusion, Bester," Mal said. "And thanks to all of you. I'm grateful that you all pulled together the way you did. I'm proud of each and every one of you." At this, he tucked into his meal.

"So, this week we made one friend and one enemy," Zoe said. "I suggest we steer clear of Whitefall in the future, sir."

"It's a big 'Verse out there, Zoe," Mal said. "Plenty of room for us to move about. I think that's the last we'll see of Patience."

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on Ezra, Jayne Cobb was down to five rounds in his pistol, and crouched behind a large outcropping of rock in the rough desert terrain. With his left hand, he grasped a rock and tossed it like a grenade behind the man under cover a dozen yards away from him. Hearing the rock land behind him, his enemy turned his head, popping up just enough to expose his crown. Jayne aimed his .50 cal carefully, and fired once, blowing a hole in the top of the man's head and spraying blood and brains in a fan behind him.

Five minutes later, Jayne stood over the bodies of the six men that had been sent to kill him. Always one to make a loud noise everywhere he went, he had made more than his share of enemies, and precious few friends, at least ones he hadn't stabbed in the back yet.

He made a big deal out of going through their pockets, piling everything of value he found into a clump in the center of the bodies. He unzipped his bag and began stuffing everything inside. Then he collected all the weapons, including knives, handguns, rifles, and even a glaive. He marveled at one of the rifles, a very expensive – and deadly – weapon with a powerful sniper scope.

He whistled. It was a Callahan Full-Bore Auto-Lock. The most expensive, and arguably the best gun made by man. He pulled back the bolt and stared out over the desert through the scope. Then he held it out at arm's length to admire it.

"I'm gonna call you 'Vera'," he said. "And I ain't never seen a face so pretty in my life, girl."

The corpses were all that remained of the crew of his last ship. Had he known that one of them had a Callahan, he would have robbed and killed his Captain a lot sooner.

 **(Author's Note: While it's known that at some point in the past, Patience shot Mal fighting over salvage rights, no actual details are known, at least according to my research. Also, we all know that Jayne is a bastard, and has done horrible things in his past and has been shown to turn against his allies on two occasions during the series – the first time by pushing Stitch Hessian out of an airship, and the second time by shooting his superior Marco in the leg over a private room and a bigger cut of the profits – so I decided to take that to the next level. We knew that six men came to kill him once, and that he earned "Vera" from that encounter, but we never knew why. Now we do. Is it a matter of time before Jayne turns on Mal, or has his time on** _ **Serenity**_ **changed Jayne for the better?)**

 **(Next Time: Shipboard Relationships - Zoe and Wash's flouting of Mal's policy against shipboard relationships comes to a head, and Mal has a decision to make.)**


	8. Shipboard Relationships

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 8: Shipboard Relationships  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **This policy you got against shipboard relationships- that's just you projecting your own intimacy issues on everyone else."  
-Hoban "Wash" Washburne - Episode 10: "War Stories"**

In the city of New Dunsmuir, on Beaumonde, Zoe and Mal sat in a booth in The Maidenhead with Fanty and Mingo while Wash and Bester got a drink at the bar. Unnoticed by everyone else in the establishment, Mal pushed a bag under the table to Fanty with his foot, filled with the goods scavenged from their illegal salvage of a derelict ship outside of Greenleaf, and Mingo passed over a sack of platinum coins to Zoe.

Fanty downed the last of his drink, Mingo following suit as Fanty pulled the bag's strap over his shoulder and got to his feet. "A pleasure, as always," he said, stepping aside and allowing his twin brother to exit the booth as well.

"A pleasure, as always," Mingo repeated. The pair then left.

Mal pushed a button on the dispenser at the center of the table, which poured two more shots for the remaining pair. Mal picked up his shot glass, and waited for Zoe to do the same.

"To another successful endeavor," he said, and they clinked glasses.

Mal stared at his glass for a long moment after downing his sake, as if he wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin.

"Something wrong, sir?" Zoe asked.

Mal sighed, resigned to the unpleasant task ahead. "I guess we should talk about the elephant in the room, Zoe."

"Elephant, sir?"

"Yeah. When I was fresh out of my bunk this morning, I chanced on Wash leaving yours. Now, I've had my suspicions about the two of you since we left Boros, and I've chosen to ignore it, but now I can't put it off any longer. Zoe, you know I have a policy against shipboard relationships." He put his glass down and looked over at her.

Zoe's face didn't betray any emotion. "I think your policy is unfair, sir," she said. "You ain't got any right to tell us who we can and can't be with."

"I don't care," Mal said. "Break it off, or I'll fire him."

Zoe's face showed anger for the first time. "If you fire Wash over me, then I'm leaving, too."

Mal's eyes widened. "You'd actually do that? Is he worth that much to you? When he came on board, you couldn't even stand to be in the same room with him!"

"Yes, sir, he is," Zoe answered. "We've been sleeping together for nearly four months now, and I love him. He doesn't know it yet, but now you do, so you can either back off, or lose both of us."

Mal replaced his glass in the slot and pushed the button again. He needed another drink.

 **O-O-O**

That night, with their secret out in the open, Wash moved his things into Zoe's quarters, carrying boxes and totes carefully up the ladder, and dumping them down the drop into Zoe's bunk. Once his quarters were completely vacated, he began to climb down.

"Look at it this way," Zoe said to Mal, who was quite unhappy as he watched the procession from the corridor, "Now you have an extra bunk to give to a third fighter or even that cook you've been wanting to hire."

"I guess," Mal said. " _Gorram fangzong fengkuang de jie,_ " he spat, and wandered off towards the kitchen.

Bester passed him near the bulkhead and approached Zoe. "He'll come around," he said to her. "I think you two are shiny together, although I never would have guessed that anything was going on."

"Yeah," Zoe said. "He threatened to fire Wash; I called his bluff."

Bester chuckled. "Cap's a big softie. Trust me, he'll be fine with it, just give him time."

Zoe nodded, still unhappy about Mal's reaction, and began to climb down the ladder after Wash.

 **O-O-O**

Zoe sat at the bunk's desk, and while Wash unpacked his belongings, she broke down, cleaned, and serviced her Mare's Leg. The weapon had served her well, and she was as skilled as a surgeon when it came to killing people with it.

Wash would occasionally divert her attention, asking advice on where to hang this, or where to put that, and each time she answered with a smile before returning to what she was doing. When she was done, she climbed into their bed – didn't that have a nice ring to it? – and propped herself up on one elbow as she watched him work.

"I still can't believe after months of skulking around that we can finally be open about each other," Wash said. "I never would have expected Mal to back down from his 'no relationships' policy. Shiny!"

Zoe's face melted into a soft smile. "Well, he threatened to fire you if I didn't stop sleeping with you," she said.

Wash stopped what he was doing and turned to face her. "Really? How did you manage to wriggle out of that?" he asked.

"I told him that where you went, I would follow," she said.

Wash dropped what he was carrying and stepped over to the bed, sitting down beside her. He leaned down and kissed her softly. "I love you," he said simply.

Zoe reached a hand up and stroked his cheek. "I love you, too," she said, and smiled.

 **O-O-O**

A week later, laden with a hold full of legal cargo and six passengers in the passenger dorms, _Serenity_ was underway, on hard burn for its destination, Pollux, after which they had a job waiting for them on Paquin. Still a day away from making planetfall, Bester informed Mal that something was jinky with the engine, and that he would need a few days in port to track it down and fix it. Mal rolled his eyes; every time something went wrong with the engine, it seemed like a good portion of his cut went up in smoke as Bester ordered more parts to keep the engine going.

"Can't be helped, Cap," Bester said. "It just comes with the territory when you're working with a fifty-year-old engine."

Twenty-nine hours later, halfway through re-entry to Pollux, the engine quit spinning, and after a few tense minutes, Wash was able to glide the ship in toward her destination in Bryn Mawr. Bester managed to reconfigure the hydraulics on the thrusters to aim them forward, and Wash used them to engage an emergency braking maneuver before settling the boat into its berth at the otherwise empty docks. Fortunately for Mal, the passengers were none the wiser, otherwise he'd probably have had to refund part or even all of their money for the scare.

Once they were down, Mal marched back to the engine room and cornered Bester. "You said you needed a few days to get her running in Bristol fashion. If you ain't got that engine purring like a kitten by then, I'm gonna start looking for another mechanic," he growled, then stormed off.

Bester closed his eyes and began to panic. He didn't have the first clue what was wrong with the engine.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, in the wastes between the worlds, Inara Serra walked with her client, a handsome young man from Ariel, down the promenade of the _Astral Queen_ , a luxury liner on which she had been serving for nearly five months. She had had her fill of the Core and its sterile, developed worlds. What she really longed to see was the frontier, to make it out to the Rim at least once before she died. In three weeks, the ship would begin a tour to Persephone, and she would disembark there, and sign onto a smaller ship, perhaps a transport.

She leaned her head against her client's shoulder affectionately as they walked arm-in-arm in silence, and smiled.

 **O-O-O**

Five days later, on Pollux, Kaywinnet Lee Frye, or "Kaylee", as she was called by her friends and family, pulled a welding mask over her face and began to spot-weld a new synchronizer assembly into place. The hovercar she was working on was at least twenty-five years old, and her daddy had promised her half the take from the job, which was the first work she'd had in months.

With the assembly in place, she removed the welding mask and connected the leads before reaching into the cockpit and pushing a button on the repulsor controls. The vehicle lifted smoothly off the lift frame and hovered a few inches above the jacks, except for the right rear of the vehicle, which sagged a little. Satisfied, she turned the vehicle off again, and it slowly settled back down onto the lift.

Kaylee replaced the emitter core on the sagging repusor module, and began to rewire the coil assembly from the primary junction. She swept her hair from her face, leaving a trail of black grease on her forehead as she did so, and sighed. What she wouldn't give to be off this God-forsaken moon and out in the Black. Her greatest desire was to be a ship's mechanic, but she had no experience, no money to travel to an interplanetary hub, and so few ships ever came here that the chances of that ever happening were virtually nil.

She thought of all the hours she had spent poring over the operations and maintenance manuals for various accelerator cores. She loved reading them, and bet she would be as good as anyone out in the Black, but working on an antique hovercar, underemployed and stuck on this backwater, it all seemed to be a waste of time to her now.

She tried to put it out of her mind as she opened the door and engaged the repulsors once again. This time, there was no sagging quarter. The car would float like a leaf on the wind once more, and she had more than earned her share of the job's bounty.

Kaylee smiled; tomorrow, when the owner returned for his vehicle, she would have some platinum in her pocket, and would probably go out to a bar with Brandi and Arleen on Friday, when they returned from their trip to Belmar. If she was lucky, she'd find some generous boy to pick up her tab, and maybe even have a roll with him, if he was spry.

She disengaged the repulsors again and turned the car off, pulling the keys from the ignition. She closed the door and hopped out of the garage with a spring in her step and a smile on her young, pretty face.

 **(Author's Note: Not much is known about where Kaylee came from, only that she worked for her "daddy" and that work was pretty scarce, implying that they lived on a backwater moon. As for her "natural talent" with machines, it makes more sense that she is an autodidact, teaching herself about the ins and outs of accelerator cores while she did other mechanic work for her father. The fact that Serenity was stranded with a disabled engine for over a week on Kaylee's homeworld, and had a job waiting for them on Paquin, is documented in Episode 8: "Out of Gas".)**

 **(Next Time: Prairie Harpy - Kaylee meets a man in a bar, a man named Alfred Bester, and then proceeds to steal his job out from underneath him.)**


	9. Prairie Harpy

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 9: Prairie Harpy  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Bester, get your prairie harpy off my boat, and put us back in the air."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 8: "Out of Gas"**

Kaylee and her friends Brandi and Arleen O'Malley, fraternal twin sisters, sat in _Li Keqiang's_ in a booth by the bar, working on their third _tokkuri_ of strawberry-flavored hot sake. The twins both had boyfriends, but still enjoyed their girls' nights out when Kaylee had money to join them, which wasn't too often in recent months. Nonetheless, they weren't opposed to being Kaylee's wing-women and often helped try to get her rolled when she was out.

"What about him?" Brandi asked, nodding towards the bar.

"Who?" Kaylee asked, looking. "The one with the long, blonde hair and the sleeveless t-shirt?"

"Yeah," said Brandi.

Arleen turned around and looked. "Oh, he's spry. Real spry. I ain't seen him in here before."

"My daddy says there's been a ship parked down at the docks for over a week. Maybe he's on their crew. Want me to find out?"

"Sure," Kaylee said, eagerly. "He looks like a pilot. Find out if he's a pilot."

"Okay, okay," Brandi said, her palms up to calm Kaylee down. " _Zhen mei naixing de Fozu_ , give me strength." She got up and sauntered over to the man at the bar.

"Hello," she said with a winning smile, and held out her hand. "Name's Brandi."

The man took it and shook her hand. "I'm Al, but everyone calls me Bester."

"Bester," she said. "I like that. You from the ship down at the Ardmore Docks?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, taking a swig of his drink.

"Are you her pilot?" she asked.

"Oh, naw. I'm her mechanic; we've been in town for a while with some engine trouble," he said.

Brandi turned around and gave a thumb's up sign. "My friend back in the booth over there thinks you're real spry, and she loves ships, especially engines. You mind if she comes over and talks to you?"

Bester turned to look. "You mean the one with the black hair, or the one with the light brown hair?" he asked.

"The one on the left, with the light brown hair," Brandi answered.

Bester smiled and raised his drink to Kaylee, making eye contact with her. "Yeah, tell her I'd love to buy her a drink," he said. "Maybe two."

Brandi excused herself and returned to the booth. "He's a _mechanic!_ " she practically exploded. "On that ship at the docks!"

Kaylee practically swooned as she got to her feet and made her way to the bar, taking a seat next to Bester. "I'm Kaylee," she said, holding out her hand.

Bester shook her hand as well. "Bester, ship's mechanic, Firefly transport _Serenity_ ," he said. "What are you drinking?"

"Hot strawberry sake," she said with a huge grin on her face. "Can I see your ship later?"

 **O-O-O**

"And now we come to the end of the tour," Bester said. "The engine room. Firefly-Class, Ought-Three K-64 Midbulk Transport, standard radeon accelerator core," he said.

Kaylee pulled back the heat shield, exposing the core. "You have a new atomic matter pile assembly," she said.

"Yep," Bester said. "Installed it myself about five months ago."

Kaylee traced her fingers along the length of the engine, headed to a nook in the portside aft of the room. Then she turned and pulled Bester close to her, kissing him, hard. "Roll me," she said.

"Okay," Bester smiled. "Let's go to my bunk."

"No," Kaylee said. "Right here, right now. Engines make me hot," she said. She pulled Bester's hand around her back. "Unzip my dress," she ordered, and he complied.

Kaylee shrugged out of her floral dress and began to pull Bester's shirt off, kissing him again as soon as his shirt was over his head; it quickly found its way to the floor along with her dress.

While they rolled, Kaylee moaned as she lazily looked over at the engine. She noticed scorch marks coming off the port from the G-line to the reg couple. How could he have missed that, especially after more than a week?

It was none of her business. Maybe she'd tell him, once they were finished, but that meant he'd be gone, and she'd likely never see him again. Maybe she'd wait a few days, first.

From behind Bester, she saw movement, and heard a voice. "What in the name of _suoyou de dou shidang_ … Bester."

They continued rolling, ignoring the interloper.

"Bester?" the voice was louder.

Kaylee and Bester kept on without interruption.

"BESTER!" the voice shouted, and suddenly she was empty, and Bester was hitching up his pants. He turned to face the man, who was probably the Captain of the vessel.

"What?" Bester asked.

Kaylee stood and started pulling on her panties before reaching for her bra and dress.

"You do realize that we've been parked on this rock a week longer than we planned?" the Captain said.

"Yeah," said Bester. "Uh, but… there's stuff to do."

The Captain wasn't hearing any of it. "As for example, that job we got waitin' for us on Paquin. When we landed, you said you needed a few days to get us spaceworthy again, and is there something wrong with your bunk?"

"What?" Bester asked, confused.

The Captain nodded towards Kaylee, who was now fully dressed, even though she was still unzipped. Bester looked at her, then back to the Captain.

"Oh, no. Cap, she likes engines. They make her _hot_." He pointed in her general direction for emphasis, a huge grin on his face.

"Bester, get your prairie harpy off my boat, and put us back in the air." The Captain was rapidly losing patience with this whole situation.

"Okay," Bester said, "but… can't."

"What do you mean, 'can't'," asked the Captain, angrily.

"Bester was apologetic. "No can do, Cap. Secondary grav boot's shot."

"No it ain't," Kaylee interjected, as she tied the belt of her dress around her waist, her back still to the two men in the engine room with her. "Ain't nothing wrong with your grav boot. Grav boot's just fine." She turned briefly and, still breathless, waved slightly to the Captain and said, "Hello."

Mal looked angrily at Bester, who said, "She doesn't… That's not… No it ain't!" he finally exclaimed, turning briefly back to Kaylee.

"Sure it is," Kayle said, turning fully around and approaching the pair. "Grav boot ain't your trouble. I seen the trouble plain as day when I was down there on my back before; your reg couple's bad."

Bester turned from Kaylee and back to Mal. "The red… What?" He turned back to Kaylee.

"The reg couple," she said, crouching down on the port side of the engine, at the stator parts beneath the rotating core, which was now as still and silent as the grave. "Right here, see?"

The two men approached her and looked where she was pointing. "No…" Bester said, sarcastically.

"This… I'm pointing right at it," Kaylee said with an edge in her voice and shook her head.

She unhooked the reg couple from the g-line and pulled it out, to Bester's audible protest. "Here," she said to Bester, and handed the reg couple to him. "Hand me that, will ya?" she said to the Captain, pointing to a spanner behind him.

The Captain grasped the tool and handed it to her, and she set about her work. "Don't serve much of a purpose, anyway, just tends to gum up the works when it gets tacked, so I figure, why even have one? Better to just take your g-line, plug it straight into the port pin-lock, and that should, uh…"

The engine clanked and began to spin again. "There!"

"What'd you do?" Bester asked as all three stood and watched the engine cycle.

"She fixed it," the Captain said acidly.

"Well, it wasn't really broke," Kaylee said, smiling.

The Captain, whose name she still didn't know, was clearly impressed. "Where'd you learn how to do that, Miss?"

"Just do it, that's all. My daddy says I got natural talent," she answered.

"I'll say you do at that," the Captain said.

"Don't we need this?" Bester asked, shaking the boxy reg couple in his hand.

"You work for your daddy, do ya?" the Captain asked.

"Well, when he got work, which ain't too often, lately," Kaylee responded.

"You got much experience with a vessel like this?"

Kaylee laughed. "I ain't never even been up in one before."

The Captain smirked. "Wanna?"

"You mean…?"

"Sure."

"For how long?"

"Long as you like. Long as you can keep her in the sky."

"You offering me a job?" Kaylee asked.

"Whoa. What?" Bester asked, tapping his knuckle on Kaylee shoulder and then pointing at the Captain.

"I believe I just did," the Captain said.

"I just gotta ask my folks," Kaylee said, heading for the bulkhead. When she reached it, she turned. "Don't leave without me!" she exclaimed, and headed out.

When she was gone, Bester turned to the Captain. "Mal, what do you need two mechanics for?" he asked.

"I really don't," Mal said, and marched off.

 **O-O-O**

Two hours later, Kaylee returned with her daddy and a truck whose back was loaded with boxes of her belongings. The pair unloaded Kaylee's effects and Kaylee's daddy eyed Mal's brown coat and nodded at him, approvingly before heading back for another box.

Mal approached the girl when she had dropped off a box. He extended his hand. "I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds. Welcome to _Serenity_."

Kaylee shook it. "Kaywinnet Lee Frye, but everyone calls me Kaylee," she said.

Kaylee's daddy came up to Mal and shook his hand as well. "Take care of my little Kaylee," he said. "She's a good girl, but she has a mischievous streak, so keep an eye on her."

"Will do, sir. I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds, and this is _Serenity_ ," he said.

Once the truck was gone, and the ship was in flight to Paquin, Mal pulled Bester into the galley and sat him down while Kaylee moved her belongings into the bunk recently vacated by Wash, a huge grin on her face. "Obviously, this hasn't worked out, but I don't want to be a _hundan_ about it, since you done some good work for us, and may have even saved my life when Patience shot me. You can keep your bunk until you disembark, and you can either get off on Paquin, or wait until we get back to Persephone, where you should be able to find some new work," he said. "You stay on past Persephone, you'll have to move into the passenger dorms, and pay us a fare."

Bester couldn't even look at Mal. "I'll get off at Persephone," he said.

"Okay," Mal said. "Until then, please stay confined to your bunk, the common area, or the kitchen." With that, Mal got up and wandered off toward the Bridge.

That night, Bester took his evening meal in his bunk.

Once everyone was asleep, Bester snuck his way into the engine room, only to find Kaylee sleeping in there on a hammock she had installed on the starboard side of the room, next to the entrance. He rolled his eyes and flipped the engagement post, stopping the engine. He turned, and watched as Kaylee stirred in her sleep, but did not wake up. He pulled out an iron file and yanked out the catalyzer, before filing down the leads on it. When he was done, he replaced the unit into the port compression coil. Sooner or later, it would fail spectacularly, and that would teach those _wangbadans_ that had cut him loose not to mess with him. He re-engaged the core, and sneaked out of the engine room.

So much for them being a family…

 **O-O-O**

Two weeks later, after three slight detours for work, Wash brought _Serenity_ for a gentle landing in the Eavestown Docks on Persephone, and Bester began loading boxes of his worldly possessions at the fore end of the cargo bay, where they would remain until he could arrange for transport to a local inn; he would have to stay at one until he could line up a new job. Kaylee came out to meet him. "I'm sorry about what happened," she said, "And I wanted to thank you for introducing me to the ship and her crew."

Bester was in no mood. "I have nothing to rutting say to you, you _gorrram_ traitor. I'm sorry I ever met you."

Kaylee was obviously hurt, her normally sunny disposition shattered. "Why are you saying that?" she asked.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" he said. "You cost me my job!"

Kaylee rolled her eyes. "With all due respect, Bester, you couldn't _do_ your job. You spent ten days looking over the engine and never even bothered to look at the stator assembly, or you would have seen those scorch marks on the reg couple. That ain't my fault; you got no one to blame but yourself."

Bester said something unspeakable, and stormed off and out of the ship. She'd get hers one day. He'd already seen to that.

Kaylee wiped the tears from her eyes, and headed back to the engine room.

 **(Author's Note: Bester doesn't get a lot of screen time in the series, and is mostly the punch line to a joke. I wanted to humanize him and make him a little more sympathetic before jettisoning him from the ship, and I didn't want to do that without there being consequences. I hope you've enjoyed his character arc, but for those that have become fans, don't worry. We haven't seen the last of him. Also, the scene with Mal, Bester, and Kaylee in the engine room is verbatim from Episode 8: "Out of Gas".)**

 **(Next Time: The Only Whore That Did - Mal meets a Registered Companion for the first time, one that is interested in renting Shuttle 1.)**


	10. The Only Whore That Did

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 10: The Only Whore That Did  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Absolutely. Never again."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 8: "Out of Gas"**

 _Serenity_ had been in port at the Eavesdown Docks for two weeks now, as Mal looked for work and interviewed potential tenants for Shuttle 1. Mal had screened four people now, and was now flying over the city in the shuttle with a man named Richter at the helm, his wife in the copilot's chair next to him.

"She handles pretty smoothly. This would work out very well." Richter was a surveyor, and was paid by the Alliance to perform geological surveys on the Border Worlds and Rim moons and planets in the Georgia, Red Sun and Blue Sun systems in particular, for possible mining contracts. "She'd have to be fitted with a class-3 sensor array, but the Alliance would pay for that."

Mal picked up the radio as they approached the docks. "Wash, we're coming in," he said.

"Roger, Mal. Starboard hatch, green for docking," Wash's voice came over the comm.

Richter tapped the microphone on his headset. "Docking in 5, 4, 3…" The shuttle came in for a landing on _Serenity's_ starboard docking port with a loud "clack", then the docking assembly retracted the shuttle halfway into the ship's hull, connecting its hatch to the inner door.

"Two hundred a month?" Richter said, pulling off his headset. His wife smiled and pulled her headset off as well.

"That's if you want to sleep on the shuttle. If you want a room in the passenger dorms it would be extra, on a per-flight basis, but you'll get a discounted rate. Either way, you get unlimited use of the kitchen and the bathing facilities in the passenger dorms," Mal replied.

"Sleeping on the shuttle will be fine," Richter responded. "We'll take it, assuming you'll have us," he said.

"Well, I have a few more people to interview, but you're the front runners so far. You do understand what we do on this ship, don't you?"

Richter smiled. "I can guess. What you do is none of my business, Captain. And even though I take a paycheck from the Alliance, they're no friends of mine. I supported the Browncoats during the war."

"Well, then let me shake your hand and thank you," Mal said, taking Richter's hand, firmly.

Mal saw the couple off, and had their Cortex number scrawled on a piece of paper in his pocket. Just one more interview today, and then he'd be able to break for dinner. Tomorrow, he had a meeting with Badger, about taking a load of goods to a man named Bosch on Ezra.

He pulled a small book out of his pocket and scanned it. "Inara Serra," he said aloud.

 **O-O-O**

Two hours later, a cab pulled up to the ramp and deposited a stunning looking young woman with raven hair, olive skin, and a beautiful dress with a bare midriff. She wore a black lace veil over her eyes.

Mal was waiting for her at the base of the ramp and smiled. "Captain Malcolm Reynolds," he said. "I have to say, I ain't never seen a registered Companion before. Pleasure to meet you, Miss. Welcome to _Serenity._ "

The woman smiled. "You can call me Inara, Captain Reynolds."

Mal led her inside, and up the stairs to the upper deck catwalk. "So your intention is to service menfolk on the ship?" he asked.

"Not usually," Inara answered as they walked. "I would almost exclusively take the shuttle to my clients and service them aboard her. I would be bringing along a bed, a couch, and various other furniture and items I would need for my job, and day-to-day needs."

Mal opened the door to Shuttle 1 and led Inara inside. "Well, here she is," he said as he stepped into the main compartment of the shuttle, which was littered with cargo containers and detritus yet to be cleaned out. "Nice, isn't she?"

Inara looked around for a couple of seconds. "Smallish," was her only reply.

"Well, not overly," Mal said, turning to face her. "How much room do you really need for what you do, anyway? Got a surveyor and his wife interested in renting it; they're just waiting to hear back."

Inara lifted the veil, spying the cockpit in the next room and heading for it. "What's her range?"

"Standard short," Mal said. "She'll break atmo from a wide orbit. Get you where you need to go, bring you back home again."

Inara sat down at the pilot's control, settling into the seat and examining the control panels and pilot's stick, silently.

"She's spaceworthy, just like the rest of _Serenity_ is," Mal added at Inara's silence.

"No need to sound so defensive, Captain," she said, standing and wandering about the cockpit. "I prefer something with a few miles on it."

After a few moments, she turned to face Mal, and continued. "Were we to enter into this arrangement, Captain Reynolds, there are a few things I would require of you, the foremost being complete autonomy. This shuttle would be my home; no crew member – including yourself – would be allowed entrance without my express invitation."

Mal nodded to her. "You'd get your privacy."

"And just so we're clear, under no circumstances will I be servicing you or anyone who is under your employ," she added.

"I'll post a sign," Mal said with barely concealed whimsy.

Inara turned and headed for the main compartment again. "That won't be necessary." She paused, then said, "The other thing I would insist upon is some measure of assurance that when I make an appointment with a client I'm in a position to keep that appointment, so far as such assurances are possible on a vessel of this… type."

Mal bristled slightly. "That's an awful lot of caveats and addendums there, Miss."

"As I stated, I just want to be clear," Inara said.

Mal started to walk away. "Well, I'll be sure to take all that into consideration as I review the applications," he said.

"Don't be ridiculous," Inara said. "You're going to rent this shuttle to me."

Mal turned, standoffish, his arms crossed, defiantly. "Am I?"

Inara smiled. "Yes, and for one-quarter less than your asking price," she said with confidence.

"Is that a fact?" Mal asked.

"It is."

"And you figure you'll be getting this discount why, exactly?"

"You want me. You want me on your ship."

Mal was becoming increasingly irritated. "Do I?" he asked.

"Yes," Inara responded. "Because I can bring you something that your surveyor or any of the other fish you might have on-line can't: a certain respectability."

"Respec-" Mal began, incredulous at the irony of a whore speaking about respectability, but was cut off.

"Based on what little I've seen of your operation, I suspect that's something you could use." Inara turned to walk away.

Mal did not turn to follow her as she stepped to the opposite wall of the compartment, examining the Cortex terminal installed there. "Fine," he said, then began to wander over toward her. "Let me ask you this: if you're so… 'respectable', why are you even here? I mean, I've heard tale of fancy ladies such as yourself shipping out with big luxury liners and the like, but a registered Companion, on a boat like this? What are you running from?"

"I'm not running from anything."

"If it's Alliance trouble you got, you might want to consider another ship. Some on board here fought for the Independents," Mal said.

"The Alliance has no quarrel with me; I supported Unification," Inara replied.

"Did ya?" Mal asked, clearly annoyed. "Well, I don't suppose you're the only whore that did."

Inara closed her eyes, clearly biting back her tongue, then opened them again with a soft smile on her face. "Oh, one final addendum," she said. "That's the last time you get to call me 'whore'." She then walked past Mal towards the door.

"Absolutely," Mal said stoically. "Never again."

 **O-O-O**

The following morning, a delivery truck arrived with all of Inara's things, and a pair of laborers moved them into Shuttle 1. The movers had a tough time getting her red sofa through the bulkhead, but once that was done, the rest was a breeze. They were gone within an hour, and half a day later, _Serenity_ was underway for Ezra; Inara skipped the evening meal with the crew, opting instead to alternate between decorating and placing an ad for her services when they arrived at their destination, then screening clients as their proposals came rolling in through the Cortex.

A knock came at her door, and Inara turned from her task of hanging bolts of shimmering black fabric over the walls to give the shuttle's cold, utilitarian interior a warm, _boudoir_ feeling. " _Qing jin_ ," she said.

Kaylee came into the room, bearing a tray. "I thought I would bring you some dinner," she said.

Inara smiled warmly. "Thank you. How thoughtful of you," she said.

Kaylee placed the tray upon the table. "Do you mind if I sit down and join you while you eat?" she asked.

Inara, who was used to solitude when she wasn't working, was bit taken aback, but didn't want to be rude. "Of course."

Kaylee sat down gently – almost reverently – upon the sofa. "This is really comfortable. I ain't never seen anything so nice as the stuff you have in this place; it's all so glamorous, even your clothing."

Inara knelt upon the floor opposite the sofa and began to eat. "Are you the welcome wagon on the ship?" she asked.

Kaylee laughed. "No, not really. I just joined the crew, myself. I signed on less than a month ago and don't really have any friends here. Since you're new to the ship, too, I thought we could be friends. If you wanted to, I mean."

Inara put her fork down and smiled. "I'd like that. I'm Inara. Inara Serra," she said.

"I know," Kaylee said. "Everyone was talking about you over dinner. Most of us are real excited to have you here; even the Captain is happy, because having a Companion on board opens up hundreds of worlds that wouldn't let us dock otherwise. That means a lot more potential work for us."

Kaylee paused. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Kaylee. Kaylee Frye."

"That's an unusual name," Inara said.

"Well, it's actually Kaywinnet Lee Frye, but everybody just calls me Kaylee. I'm the ship's mechanic."

"The ship's mechanic? What are you, 25?" Inara asked.

"I'm 23," Kaylee said.

"That's awfully young. Do you have much experience?"

"I used to rebuild engines and rewire cars – ground and hover – for my daddy's garage. I've only had four weeks as mechanic here. I learned everything I know about engines and ship systems from books," Kaylee said.

"That's very impressive," Inara said between bites. "Not to mention admirable. Learning seems to be a lost art on many worlds."

"I don't read much, besides technical manuals," Kaylee said. "I've been studying accelerator cores since before I was a teenager. I was living on this backwater moon – Pollux – and out of nowhere, this opportunity just sort of fell into my lap. It's shiny."

"You were lucky to get out," Inara said. "Most people want to get off the backwaters, I'd imagine. My guess is that most never even have a chance."

"My only other option would be to sign on with the Alliance military," she said. "But my daddy would have had a fit if I did. He would have been a Browncoat himself if he didn't already have a family."

An uncomfortable silence settled over the room; Inara knew that politics was a prickly topic of conversation for most people, and she didn't relish the thought of making enemies out of all her shipmates. Fortunately, Kaylee broke the silence by changing the subject for her.

"Have you ever been to the Core?" Kaylee asked.

"I was born and raised on Sihnon," Inara replied. "For the last six months, I've been aboard a luxury liner called the _Astral Queen_. We toured the Core and some of the more developed former Independent worlds."

"The most developed world I've ever been to is Persephone," Kaylee said. "The city was so big! It never seemed to end. I couldn't believe how many people there were."

"Persephone is nowhere near as populated as Sihnon," said Inara. "Persephone has a half a billion people on it, and Sihnon has over eight billion."

"Eight billion!" Kaylee was amazed. "The people must be tripping over each other to get around!"

"Maybe in some of the bigger cities," Inara said with a smile, "but we still have suburbs and even farmland. There are whole stretches of forest that go on for hundreds of miles, untouched by man."

"It sounds like a dream. Maybe one day I'll get to go to the Core myself; _Serenity_ might get a job that'll take us there," Kaylee said.

"She'll have to go, eventually. Every year I have to go to a Core hospital for a medical check-up. It's Guild law," Inara replied. "I suppose I'll have to pay the Captain to take us there, but if you're still on the ship, I guarantee you'll get to go."

Kaylee grinned, her even, white teeth showing as she beamed. "You're like our good luck charm, Inara. I'm glad you're here."

Inara smiled, sadly. "I'm glad someone is," she said.

 **(Author's Note: Kaylee and Inara have always been close. I hope you enjoyed my envisioning of the beginning of that friendship. The scene with Mal and Inara on the shuttle is verbatim from Episode 8: "Out of Gas".)**

 **(Next Time: You Are Cordially Invited - As Zoe and Wash prepare to get married and go on a honeymoon on Bellerophon, Mal glowers aboard the ship. Book delivers his first sermon in front of the congregation. Jayne joins a new ship.)**


	11. You Are Cordially Invited

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 11: You Are Cordially Invited  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I wish I was somebody else right now, somebody not… married, not madly in love with a beautiful woman who can kill me with her pinky."  
-Hoban "Wash" Washburne - Episode 6: "Our Mrs. Reynolds"**

 _Serenity_ was on Bellerophon, and, knowing of the event in advance, Inara had left her schedule open this afternoon. Mal had protested to Zoe angrily, but had finally relented and diverted the ship to this planet, at the heart of the Georgia system. Inara had a nearly full schedule for the next four days while _Serenity_ arranged to take on passengers and cargo, but in the meantime, she would be without a pilot and a first officer.

Deep in the docks, Inara, Zoe, Wash, and Kaylee stood at the foot of the ramp, waiting. The Captain closed the inner airlock doors and raised the ramp, a sour look on his face.

A taxi arrived at _Serenity's_ berth, and the four of them got inside, the cab lifting off and heading skyward to the local Magistrate building. Once there, the cab landed and its passengers disembarked and headed inside.

Ten minutes later, Zoe and Wash were filling out paperwork at the office of the Justice of the Peace and submitted their written blood test results. Inara and Kaylee, their witnesses, sat in a pew along with dozens of other people, while the happy couple did what they had to do to get on the docket.

They all sat and joked as they waited, Wash being ever the prankster as he kept everyone entertained over the next hour.

Finally, a woman poked her head into the waiting room. "Zoe Oona Alleyne and Hoban Linus Washburne?" she asked, and the four rose, stepped over to the door and followed the young woman down a hallway and into the Magistrate's office.

Zoe was wearing a white, flowing dress, while Wash wore what passed for a suit, complete with a tie. Inara wore something relatively simple, at least simple for her, as she didn't want to outdo the bride; Kaylee wore grey coveralls and a pink shirt, and had pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Do you have a Capture? I can shoot video of the ceremony if you like," the woman, the Magistrate's assistant, asked. Inara pulled Zoe's Capture out of her handbag and handed it to the woman, who stood in a corner of the room and began shooting. "Sir, we're ready for you," she said.

A man in black robes stood and stepped over to the podium, looking over the paperwork in front of him. "Are either of you changing your names after this ceremony?" he asked.

"I am," said Zoe. "I wish to be called Zoe Alleyne Washburne after the ceremony is complete."

The Magistrate, a man in his fifties with blonde hair that was graying at the temples, made a notation on the form with a pen before looking up. Zoe stood to the right of the podium, Wash to the left; both Inara and Kaylee stood to the right of Zoe, and all had smiles on their faces.

The Magistrate spread his hands apart, then began. "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of you, Hoban Linus Washburne, and you, Zoe Oona Alleyne, in the bonds of matrimony. This ceremony has largely been unchanged since long before humanity left Earth-That-Was, and the tale of two young lovers finding solace and compassion in one another's arms is a tale as old as time itself."

He turned to Wash, then to Zoe. "Do you have your own vows written, or do you wish me to recite the standard litany?"

"We've written our own vows," Zoe replied, a soft smile on her face.

"Very well, then," the Magistrate responded. "Who would like to begin?"

"I will," said Zoe, who turned to the groom. "Wash, it's been over nine months since we met. I hated you when we first encountered one another, but your kind and gentle nature, and your ability to make me laugh, no matter how hard times became, won my heart, which is no small feat. I was career military for the Independent infantry, and love was the last thing on my mind for the longest time. But as they say, we don't get to choose who we love, and as sure as the turn of the worlds, I became yours, almost from the day we first kissed. I knew for months that I loved you, but I didn't tell you because I was afraid to say it first. This is the happiest day of my life, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you, walking hand in hand to our ultimate destination, wherever that might be."

A tear rolled down Wash's cheek, and he took Zoe's hand in his. "You were afraid? Of me?" he asked.

She nodded, her eyes wet. "I was. I was afraid you wouldn't have said it back."

Wash nodded, and took a deep breath as he gave her hand a squeeze. "Zoe, my beloved Zoe, I knew you disliked me from the day I first came aboard the ship. But you were strong and spry, and I was determined to win you over, despite the Captain's policy against shipboard romances. Still, I would never have made the first move. The day you kissed me in the pilot's chair was a wonderful surprise, and since then my life has been filled with wonderful surprises as we have wandered the galaxy together, hand in hand. The most recent surprise was the night you asked me to marry you, less than two weeks ago. I couldn't say 'yes' fast enough. Since that day, I've thought of our future together, growing old with you, and the beautiful children we would raise together. You complete me, and I never want to spend a single day without you, for the rest of my life," he said, then kissed her hand.

"Do you have the rings?" asked the Magistrate.

Inara stepped over to Wash, and handed him Zoe's ring, while Kaylee turned and placed Wash's band in Zoe's waiting hand.

"Hoban, place the ring upon Zoe's finger, and say, 'With this ring, I thee wed'."

Wash slipped the titanium band upon Zoe's finger, a tiny diamond at the top. "With this ring, I thee wed."

"Now Zoe, place the ring upon Hoban's finger, and say, 'With this ring, I thee wed'."

Zoe slipped the titanium band upon Wash's finger. This ring contrasted nicely with his pale skin, and had no diamond upon it. "With this ring, I thee wed."

The Magistrate smiled. "With the power vested in me by the Union of Allied Planets, I hereby pronounce you man and wife. _Zhuhe!_ You may now kiss the bride."

Wash dipped Zoe and kissed her sweetly, then lifted her back to an upright, standing position. Kaylee clapped her hands with delight. " _Zhuhe!_ The vows were beautiful, you two."

" _Zhuhe,"_ repeated Inara, smiling. "It was a lovely ceremony."

The assistant turned off the Capture and handed it back to Inara, who deposited it back into her bag.

Wash and Zoe thanked the Magistrate, both shaking his hand, and then the four filed out of the building and into a waiting taxi, which ferried them first to a restaurant, where they had a lovely meal at Inara's expense, and then they headed back to _Serenity_. Once inside, Inara handed the Capture over to Zoe. "You're going to need this, I suspect," she said.

Wash and Zoe made their way to Shuttle 2, their bags already packed, and flew out to Ocean City, a lovely little hamlet for tourists and sunbathers, whereupon they set up a tent on the beach. Zoe put on a bikini that Inara had bought her for the occasion as a wedding gift, and she showed it off to Wash before he chased her into the sea.

It was going to be a lovely four days.

 **O-O-O**

Inara immediately took off for her evening's appointment in Shuttle 1, leaving Kaylee and Mal alone on the ship. She fixed dinner for the two of them, and sat down, placing a plate in front of her Captain as she did so.

"Thank you," Mal said grimly as he tucked into his meal.

"You're still mad about them getting married, aren't you, Cap?" Kaylee asked, concern etched upon her face.

"Don't worry about it," he said. "It'll be fine."

You know, there's a saying in the Bible. "Love is patient, love is kind-"

"I know," Mal said. "First Corinthians 13:4-8. And don't _ever_ quote scripture to me again, Kaylee. That's rule number one on my boat."

Kaylee looked chastened. "I'm sorry, sir."

The pair ate in silence.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on Persephone, Shepherd Derrial Book addressed the congregation for the first time in the meeting hall adjacent to the Southdown Abby. "Please turn to First Corinthians 13, verse 4," Book began. He waited for the congregation, three hundred people strong, to find the correct verse in their Bibles. After a few long moments, he continued.

"Love is patient," he said, "love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away."

Shepherd book cleared his throat. "I am relatively new to Christ's love, compared to the length and breadth of my sinful life," he said. "I was not a good man before He took me in His arms and forgave me for all the sins I had committed in the past. It is only by His grace and divine providence that I am standing before you today, delivering my first sermon, instead of roasting for all eternity in the fiery pits of hell itself. But it is not fear of damnation that binds us together as brothers and sisters in Christ, nor is it the promise of an eternity in paradise that draws us to God. Instead, it is the absolute love and total brotherhood that binds us together, and gives us new life, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb."

Book paused, then continued. "Our works are as filthy rags before God the Father," he said, "but it is only by our works that we prove our repentance and our acceptance of salvation. Our works are our statement to a sinful, rotten world that we alone are saved. Let Christ guide your hearts and hands, my children, and He will never steer you wrong."

 **O-O-O**

That night, on Santos, Jayne Cobb signed on to his new ship, _The Black Rider_. He had to share a bunk with Robbins, another fighter on the ship, but he was earning seven percent of the take, and Marco had promised him bonuses if his tracking skills proved to be of value to the crew. Once his belongings, including an arsenal of weapons, were unpacked and set to rights, he sat down at the dinner table with his new shipmates.

His Captain, Marco Jester, turned to him. "Jayne, since you're new to the table and to the ship, it falls to you to say grace before dinner."

Jayne nodded and clasped his hands together, lowering his head and closing his eyes before he spoke:

"Blessed be the worlds for providing us this food. Blessed be the suns for helping it to grow. Blessed be the winds and birds for carrying its seed. Blessed be the rain for the water's loving flow. Blessed be the hands that helped prepare this meal, may those hands and our hands, bodies too, be well and quick to heal. Blessed be my shipmates, may Christ protect them from all that would seek to do them harm. Blessed be our friends, our families, and all of our loved ones. And lastly, blessed be the turn of our mother worlds, our father skies, and the suns that burn with a blinding light, overshadowed only by the face of God Himself."

 **(Author's Note: While I myself am an atheist, I know that many of my readers are believers, and am well aware that Firefly has an underlying theme of faith and belief, personified by Shepherd Book's absolute faith and Mal's rejection of God, following the end of the Unification War. As such, one must at least occasionally address the issues of faith that the series embraces in order to tell the tale of** _ **Serenity**_ **and her crew properly.)**

 **(Next Time: Crybaby Cry - Mal and Kaylee create a new invention together so that Mal can raid a destroyed ship loaded with illegal salvage.)**


	12. Crybaby Cry

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 12: Crybaby Cry  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Make your mother sigh. Engaging the Crybaby."  
Hoban "Wash" Washburne - Episode 1: "Serenity"**

" _Shensheng de gaowan_ , that's a big transport," Mal said, looking through the viewport of the Bridge at a blown-out ship in front of them, not two hours away from their destination, _Li Shen's_ Bazaar Skyplex above Titan Colony.

"Registry reads as the _Nightbird_ , and it looks like she had a blowout just fore of the engine room on the starboard side, judging from that hole and the debris field," Wash said. "She's probably open to space, but I'm not reading any radiation from the core."

"Screw salvage rights," Mal said. "I want her. If she was heading for Titan, she's probably loaded to bear with cargo. Probably a mix of genseed, food concentrates and electronics."

"Ain't no way we'd be able to salvage her without getting caught, sir," Zoe said. "Alliance patrols probably know about her already, and will be watching for scavengers before a legal salvage vessel comes to pick her clean."

Mal was thoughtful for a moment. "Let me give it some thought. Let's continue on to the Skyplex for now, and we'll see if we can't come back for her later."

"Yes, sir," said Wash, and began working the controls to put _Serenity_ back in flight.

"I'm gonna go talk to Kaylee," Mal said. "Wash, let me know when we're getting close to the Skyplex."

Mal headed aft, all the way back to the engine room, where he found Kaylee soldering a broken comm unit at her workbench. " _Xiaomeimei,_ " he said.

"Morning, Cap. What can I do for you?" Kaylee turned in her stool and smiled.

"We might have some work in the area, but to make that possible, I've got a job for you," he said. "Blown-out transport a couple hours out from _Li Shen's_. But the area's probably crawling with Alliance, and we'd almost certainly get buzzed. But I had an idea about that."

Kaylee cocked her head. "What's that?"

"Can you rig up a small transmitter we can leave somewhere, say the asteroid belt, and trigger in the event that any Alliance gets close? Something with a phony distress call, like a downed personnel transport, lost power, hit a small asteroid or whatever? If we trigger it before we're detected, the Alliance will take off to render aid, and we'd be free to continue unloading the cargo."

Kaylee's brow furrowed. "Yeah, I think that shouldn't be too hard. I'd have to get a long-range comm, and a power pack for it. Something that would last at least twelve hours, plus a receiver, but yeah. While we're at it, maybe we can pick up a half a dozen barrels, load them up with some disassembled thruster packs and fuel, and attach a Nav Sat to each. We could load them into the ventral airlock, you know, the bomb-bay doors on the bottom of the ship, and if we were out of visual range, we could dump them out the 'lock and activate them. They'd all fan out in different directions, and if we went for hard burn at the same time, there'd be only a one in seven chance that the Alliance would go after the correct signal."

Mal's eyes went wide and he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead, his hands on either side of her head. "Kaylee, you're brilliant! I never would have thought of that!"

Kaylee blushed. "Gonna probably run a hundred in platinum for everything," she said. "The transmitter job would cost only about fifteen."

Mal was thoughtful for a moment. "Then let's build the decoys one at a time. You buy everything you need for the phony transmitter signal, and six empty barrels, plus enough for one barrel to be completed. Each time we get some extra money, we build another decoy, until we have all six," he said. He reached into his pocket and handed her twenty-five in platinum.

"I'll get on it as soon as we make stationfall," she said.

"Okay," Mal said. "Ain't gonna be too worried about the decoys just yet. Make the transmitter your top priority."

 **O-O-O**

"Amnon!" Mal exclaimed as he stepped into the postal station on the Skyplex, addressing a heavyset man in his late fifties wearing a _yarmulke_. "I heard from Monty that your wife had another baby. _Mazel tov!_ "

Amnon smiled as he reached behind him to get the post for _Serenity_. "A girl. She's a really _sheyn meydl_ ," he said in Yiddish. "Got you some parts, plus a package for Kaylee Frye and another for Wash. You can sign for everybody?"

"Sure can," Mal said, reaching for the clipboard in Amnon's hand. He picked a pen off the counter and signed, returning the clipboard and taking the four smallish boxes. "What's her name?"

"Cora," Amnon answered. "Cora Duul, yet another addition to the Duul Clan."

"That's a beautiful name. You must be very proud," Mal said.

"That isn't even the half of it," Amnon replied. "That's five, now. If we have any more, I'm gonna have to open another franchise just to pay to keep them fed and save for college," he said.

"What happened to moving the family to New Jerusalem?" Mal asked.

Amnon laughed. "We'll make _Aliyah_ before the Messiah comes, I promise," he joked.

 **O-O-O**

The crew was sitting around the table in the galley. "What am I looking at?" Zoe asked.

"It's a coffee can," Wash said.

"Chicory, technically," replied Zoe.

Mal smiled as Kaylee flipped a switch on the side of the can. A green light began to blink on the top of the can. "I call it 'The Crybaby'," she said, proudly.

"You've definitely outdone yourself this time," Mal said to Kaylee, and explained the purpose of the device to Wash and Zoe, who both looked wide-eyed at the device, clearly impressed.

"Wash, I've already got a switch rigged in the cockpit. You flip it, and the Crybaby will start transmitting an automated signal instantly."

"That's amazing," Wash said. "You're a genius, Kaylee."

"Well," Kaylee replied, "it was really the Cap's idea, I just built it." She pulled out her comm and turned it on before pushing a button marked "Test" on the side. Kaylee's voice came over the comm unit, with a hissing sound in the background; her voice cutting in and out as the message played.

"This is the Atlantis," Kaylee's voice said. "We are a personnel transport with fifteen hundred pass… gers. We have… all power and are adrift da… close to the ast… oid belt. We need im… rescue and urgently re… any nearby ships render assistance. Repeating. This is the At… tis. We are a per… el transport…"

Kaylee flipped the power switch on the Crybaby and turned off her comm as well. "I have a fractal algorithm set up to cut out the signal at random intervals, simulating a real transmission problem. If they listen to two or three cycles, they'll have the full message."

"Now we can go after that transport," Mal said. "Wash, set a course for the asteroid belt, at least 45 degrees off of the line from _Li Shen's_ to the wreck, and when we get there I'll suit up and drop it out the airlock."

Wash stood up. "This is gonna be fun," he said.

 **O-O-O**

Six hours later, with no ships on the screens, _Serenity_ docked its forecouple with the _Nightbird_ and Zoe, Mal, and Kaylee, all suited up, made their way into the other ship's cargo bay. Inside, two bodies floated about.

"No gravity," said Mal. "That'll make this a lot easier."

As Kaylee made her way to the engine room, courtesy of the magnetic boots they all had on their suits, Mal and Zoe began ferrying the cargo from the _Nightbird's_ hold into the airlock on _Serenity_. Over the next five hours, the trio filled the airlock eight times, then closed it off and pulled the cargo into _Serenity's_ cargo bay proper before closing the inner airlock doors and depressurizing the airlock as they opened the forcouple's door.

While filling the airlock the ninth time, with Kaylee helping with the smaller cargo, and having already picked the engine room clean, Wash's voice came over the comm.

"Captain, passive sensors read an Alliance cruiser headed this way, still fifteen clicks out."

"Crybaby cry," Mal said. "Everyone stay calm."

"Engaging the Crybaby," Wash said. Dropping the decoy into the ventral dock, sir."

The trio continued their work, ready to bolt for the airlock at a moment's notice.

After a few minutes, Wash's voice came over the comm again. "Mal, they're coming about and heading for the Crybaby. I estimate we have another hour before they figure out what's going on, and another hour to get back here. If we're out of here in an hour, maybe an hour and a half, there ain't no way they'll catch us."

"Roger that," said Mal. "Ladies, we've got ninety minutes to grab as much as we can; let's make doubletime on this cargo. We can get at least half of what's left in the time remaining."

Rushing to grab as much of the booty as they could, they filled up the airlock three more times, using the mule and its trailer to move the cargo into the bay faster. It broke Mal's heart to leave the rest behind, but they had stumbled upon a small fortune, and it wouldn't serve them to be greedy.

Mal sealed the airlock the final time. "Wash, we're on. Get us to Beaumonde, full burn; see if you can plot a course to avoid any Alliance patrols."

"You got it, Mal," Wash said over the comm, and disengaged the ship from the _Nightbird._

 **O-O-O**

There was far too much contraband to fit into the smuggler's hold, so Mal paid Inara an unexpected – and uninvited – visit.

"I thought I told you no one was allowed to come in here without my invitation, Captain," Inara said, angrily.

"Well, your door was open," Mal said. "If that's not an invitation, I don't know what is."

"Next time, at least do me the courtesy of knocking," Inara said. "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to let you know that we're headed for Beaumonde, and should be there in six days. We're taking a roundabout route to avoid Alliance, and will be out of Cortex range in four hours. To make it up to you, I've decided that we'll be in New Dunsmuir for at least two weeks, so that will give you plenty of time to line up new work, Ambassador."

"I'm sorry, 'Ambassador'?" Inara looked confused.

"Of course. You're our Ambassador to the 'Verse, since you allow us to dock at a passel of worlds we otherwise wouldn't have access to. Would you rather I just called you 'whore', instead?"

Inara closed her eyes and bit her lip. "No, Ambassador will be fine," she said, her eyes still closed.

 **O-O-O**

Back in the cargo bay, Mal ran into Kaylee pulling the decoy barrel out of the ventral airlock, and went over to help her carry it out. "You did good work today, Kaylee."

"Thanks, Cap. I'm just happy to be here," she said.

"Well, this will make you even happier. Your Crybaby worked so well that I've decided to give you an extra five percent on the haul from this job," Mal said. "Now, you just need to get the parts together to build another one, once we get to Beaumonde."

Kaylee put the barrel down with Mal's help and smiled at him. "No need, Captain. I got a good deal, and bought enough parts to build three of them. I'll get to work building the next one tomorrow morning."

Mal kissed her on the top of the head. "You're the best mechanic in the Black, Kaylee. Don't let nobody ever tell you elsewise."

 **(Author's Note: The Crybaby is only seen once, in Episode 1, "Serenity". The self-propelled decoy barrels are used by the ship in the film of the same name. I figure that Kaylee would have had to come up with them and build them long before the series began. As for those of you who have been looking forward to Jayne joining the crew, sit tight. He's coming up soon.)**

 **(Next Time: The Man They Call Jayne - As we look back over the life of Jayne Cobb, in the present, Jayne tracks his way back to** ** _Serenity_** **so that he and his comrades can steal its cargo.)**


	13. The Man They Call Jayne

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 13: The Man They Call Jayne  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **He robbed from the rich and he gave to the poor, walked up to the man and he gave him what-for. Our love for him now ain't hard to explain, the Hero of Canton, the man they call Jayne."  
-Song, Episode 7 - "Jaynestown"**

Jayne Cobb spied _Serenity_ through a pair of binoculars from the crest of a hill. He could see the ramp down on the fore of the ship, and could even see a couple of people milling about inside. A dozen yards in front of the ramp was a rusted-out piece of farm equipment, probably an old combine or something, now long abandoned. He chomped on his cigar and spoke.

"Marco, I've found _Serenity_. She's a half mile north of that Jericho tree we split up at. I was right about the off-roader tracks. Looks like they've got a four-wheeler in the cargo bay, and I see a couple people inside, but no sign of the goods. We follow those tracks the other way, we might find the stuff, assuming they don't lead back to town."

Marco's voice came over the transceiver in Jayne's ear. "Roger that, Jayne. Robbins, let's you and me meet back up at the tree and head for Jayne's position. Sit tight, Jayne. We'll be there in less than an hour."

"Roger that," said Robbins over the comm..

"Roger, Marco," said Jayne, backing up slightly and settling in, lest he be spotted on the hilltop.

 **O-O-O**

Fifty feet above Higgins' Moon, Jayne and his partner, Stitch Hessian sped over the countryside in a damaged airship, now flying toward the docks. The rear hatch was open, and each of them carried a now-detached cockpit seat, and dumped them out the rear of the craft, careful not to disturb the heavy safe in the ship's hold.

Stitch ran back to the cockpit. "No good, Jayne. We're still losing altitude."

"We got anything else we can drop?" Jayne asked. "If not, think we can carry the safe to the docks if we set down?"

"Not a chance. It's too _gorram_ heavy," Stitch said. "We ain't got no choice, Jayne. We gotta drop the money."

At first, the job had gone almost too smoothly. They managed to break into Boss Higgins's office and carry the safe out on a hand-truck they had brought with them, loading the safe and the sixty-thousand in platinum inside into the back of one of the hovercrafts parked on a rooftop lot. When they took off, they must have triggered an alarm, because they started taking fire just as they were almost out of range. Stitch dodged two SAMs, but a third one had clipped them, taking out the starboard engine and causing them to steadily lose altitude.

They had dumped the fuel reserves and the life support module used for flight beyond the atmo, as well as everything else in the hold before they finally removed and jettisoned the seats, but it clearly wasn't enough.

"We ain't got no choice," Stitch said. "We ain't got nothing left to drop."

 _That ain't true,_ Jayne thought, and looked out over the lights from the houses and mud huts of Canton below, and the campfires that burned outside of them. "Come here, Stitch, help me get this safe over to the ramp," he yelled over the rush of wind blowing in from the open hatch.

Stitch and Jayne slid the safe close to the edge, before Jayne suddenly grabbed Stitch and shoved him off the ramp, as hard as he could. He could hear the man's scream dwindle into the night until there was nothing left of it but the din of the wind blowing through his hair as the plane flew on.

This would work out even better, Jayne mused. Now he would get to keep the entire take from the job. He ran to the fore end of the ship and checked the altimeter, watching it drop, slowly but steadily.

 _Gorramit! So close,_ he thought. But it still wasn't enough. He almost had the easy life in his hands, only to have it slip though his fingers. He wanted to cry as he went aft again and rolled the safe off the ramp and into the inky blackness of the night sky.

With that, the ship began gaining altitude again. He would make it to the docks after all, and get off-planet before Port Control traced him back to his ship and put a Land-Lock on it.

He had worked with Stitch for over six months now, and they had pulled off nearly a dozen successful heists together. But standing at the controls of the craft, he didn't feel even the remotest twinge of regret. He had done what he had to do, after all. He protected himself. And protecting himself meant he could go on protecting his family.

 **O-O-O**

Marco and Robbins joined Jayne on the other side of the hill from _Serenity_ , both laying down into the desert dust to keep themselves concealed from the ship. "There are two in the cargo bay, up that ramp on the 'fore," Jayne said. "If we take the path to the right of the ship, we can sidle up next to it and confront them."

"Sounds like a plan, Jayne," Marco said. "Let's do it."

The trio got up, crouching low, and began to make their way down the hill, to one side, readying their weapons as they went.

 **O-O-O**

Jayne's mother, Radiant Cobb, was knitting in the family room of the woodland shack in which her family lived. Young Jayne came in the back door after a long day of hunting, a trio of rabbits slung over his shoulder and a rifle in one hand.

"I'm home, ma," Jayne said, dropping the rabbits on the kitchen counter and leaning the rifle against the wall. Later, he would skin the animals, and his mother would cook them up in a frying pan for dinner. The skins would bring a good price in town tomorrow. "Sorry I couldn't get no deer today. Saw a twelve-point buck, but it ran off before I could get my rifle up."

"Jayne, please come here," Radiant said to her son, her voice raised so that she could hear him in the kitchen.

Jayne stepped into the family room. Mattie was lying on the sofa, asleep, his breathing watery and labored. A prescription bottle of pills sat on the coffee table. "What's up, ma?"

"Jayne, we got troubles. Doc Bishop says Mattie's got the damp lung again, and his medicine was over twenty in platinum."

" _Hundan!_ " Jayne exclaimed. "That ain't fair. This is the third time!"

"I know," Radiant said. "So I got to talk to you, son. We need money, and lots of it, or Mattie's gonna die of it one day, the day he gets sick and we ain't got the platinum to pay for his medicine. With the factory closing, there ain't a hope in _diyu_ of you getting a job, and those _wangbadans_ down at the general store ain't ever gonna hire me back with the economy so bad. So I been thinkin'…"

 _Here it comes,_ thought Jayne.

"There's a ship down at the docks for the next few days, a Trans-U that Doc Bishop says is called _The Void Walker._ Now, I went and asked around, and it seems they're lookin' for fighters to sign on. If you went and showed them what a crack shot you are, I'm sure they'd take you."

"Ma, I don't wanna have to kill nobody. That's why I ain't signed on with the Browncoats yet."

"It ain't no thing, son. It's just like shooting an animal, only bigger, which means they'll be easier to hit," she said. "On a ship, you'd get a cut of the take, and that means you can send credits home to help out with Mattie and Jenny."

Jayne sighed. "If you think that's best for all of us, ma."

Radiant got up and wrapped her arms around her son, hugging him close. "Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for the ones we love. This is one of those times, Jayne."

"Yes, ma," Jayne said, and looked over to Mattie, who moaned in his sleep, and turned over with a gurgling wheeze. "Anything you say."

 **O-O-O**

Jayne, Marco, and Robbins all made their way against the side of the ship, an ancient Firefly-class transport, and stopped at the edge of the cargo bay, listening for sounds of movement beyond the ramp. "If we sneak up the right side of the ramp, we can get into the cargo bay and take them by surprise," Marco said in hushed tones, "then we take them outside where nobody can get the drop on us from above."

Jayne led the way, with the others following, as he rounded the corner and crept up the edge of the ramp in a crouch, hiding behind various stacks of cargo containers as he went. He scoped out the entire cargo bay, and looked back at Marco, who was also hiding behind a stack of cargo, then held up two fingers to indicate that he had spotted two tangos, an older man in a long, brown coat, and a woman wearing a red shirt and an olive jacket who had dark brown skin and dark wavy hair.

Marco held up his hand so both Jayne and Robbins could see it, then turned it into a fist. All three leapt out from behind their cover, and Marco cried out, "Freeze!"

 **O-O-O**

Jayne took his drink at the bar and turned around, eyeing a spry young woman sitting alone at a table, obviously having just arrived, as she was taking off her jacket. He sauntered over and set his drink down on the table before sitting down.

"Do you mind?" she asked, clearly perturbed.

"No, I don't mind at all," Jayne smiled. "What's a pretty face like you doing alone in a place like this?" he asked.

"I'm not alone," she said, annoyed. "My fella is in the bathroom."

"You don't say," he replied, a smile still on his face. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Are you deaf?" she practically spat at him. "I told you, I have a fella."

"No you don't," Jayne said, amused.

"Yes, I do, and when he gets back, he's gonna flatten you," she said with a cruel smile on her face.

A young man stepped up to the table, clearly angry. "Is this _hundan_ giving you trouble, Anne?" he asked.

"Yes, absolutely, Rick" she said. "I told him you were my boyfriend, but he won't leave me alone!"

Rick put his hand on Jayne's shoulder. "I'm gonna give you one chance, _go-se_. Leave, before I teach you a lesson."

Jayne stood, a smile still on his face, and turned to face Rick. "I'd like to see you try."

Rick took a swing at Jayne, who dodged it, and ducked under his arm. Before anyone knew what was happening, Jayne was behind him, and had his own arm around the man's head. With a sickening crack, Jayne broke his neck, and Rick slid to the floor, dead.

A few people turned to look, then went back to their drinks and conversations.

Jayne sat back down. "As I said, you ain't got no boyfriend, not no more, anyway. So, where were we?" He smiled again, and took a swig of his drink.

Anne looked at him, horrified.

 **O-O-O**

Mal and Zoe were taken completely by surprise, as they had been rearranging the bay to make room for more cargo that they were to take on before their next stop. Instinctively, they both raised their hands.

"Outside," Marco growled, and waved his shotgun toward the entrance to the ship. Zoe and Mal complied, and once they had reached the bottom of the ramp, Marco, Robbins, and Jayne all passed them and took up a position several yards away, next to the abandoned piece of farm equipment.

"Where are the goods?" demanded Marco.

"We had a deal, Marco. You pay us, we give you the goods. That's how it works," Mal said, his hands still aloft. "I thought you were a fence. You should know the routine if you want to stay in business."

"No, Reynolds, I got me a ship, like you. I've found it works much better if we take the goods and then we kill you," he said.

"When we made this deal," Mal said, "I thought you were a reasonable man."

"Reason!" Marco exclaimed. "He's gonna talk to us about reason now!"

 **(Author's Note: The end of this fic is the beginning of the scene introducing Jayne to Mal and Zoe, shown in a flashback in Episode 8: "Out of Gas". I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of Jayne's past, both canon and original. According to the Firefly and Serenity Wiki, Jayne's mother is actually called "Radiant Cobb", and she either has a son or takes care of a young man named "Mattie". The rest is sheer speculation on my part. The tale of Stitch Hessian being tossed out of the hovercraft is described in Episode 7, "Jaynestown". As always, I am delighted to hear from my readers, so please don't hesitate to PM me and say hello! I'd love to know how you all think I'm doing so far.)**

 **(Next Time: Not No Sad Seven - Seduced by the promise of a private bunk and a larger cut of the profits, Jayne Cobb joins the crew of** ** _Serenity_** **.)**


	14. Not No Sad Seven

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 14: Not No Sad Seven  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **You move on over to this side, we'll not only show you where the stuff's at, we'll see to it that you get your fair share, not no sad seven."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 8: "Out Of Gas"**

Marco laughed. "Reason! He's gonna talk to us about reason now!" His thick accent made it a little difficult to understand him.

Jayne snickered at Mal and Zoe, a cigar clamped tightly between his teeth. "Yeah, that's a joke."

Mal spoke to Zoe in a soft voice. "Which one you figure tracked us?" he asked.

Zoe looked over the three men currently holding them at gunpoint. "The ugly one, sir."

Mal looked them over as well for a few seconds before asking, "Could you be more specific?"

Marco nodded his head at Mal as he spoke. "Do we look reasonable to you?"

Mal turned slightly, his hands, which were held aloft like Zoe's, waved a little. "Well, looks can be deceiving."

Jayne took the cigar out of his mouth as he spoke, his revolver carefully trained on Mal. "Not as deceivin' as a lowdown… dirty… deceiver."

Marco laughed and Mal turned to face Jayne. "Well said. Wasn't that well said, Zoe?"

Zoe's voice was completely emotionless. "Had a kind of poetry to it, sir," she deadpanned.

"You want I should shoot 'em now, Marco?" Jayne asked his Captain.

"Wait 'till they tell us where they put the stuff," Marco said, and raised his shotgun, aiming it at Mal.

Jayne grinned, his white teeth showing through his goatee. "That's a good idea… Good idea. Tell us where the stuff's at, so I can shoot ya."

Mal raised his right hand higher, as though he was a child in a classroom. "Point of interest," he said. "Offering to shoot us might not work so well as an incentive as you might imagine."

Marco and Jayne looked as though this thought had not occurred to them.

"Anyway," Mal said, "we've hidden it, so, you kill us, you'll never find it."

"Found you easy enough," Jayne retorted.

"Yeah, you did, didn't you?" Mal asked, thoughtful for a moment. "How much they payin' you?"

Jayne looked confused for a few seconds. "Huh?"

Mal went on. "I mean, let's say you did kill us. Or didn't; there could be torture. Whatever. But somehow, you found the goods. What would your cut be?"

Jayne smiled, obviously pleased with himself. "Seven percent, straight off the top."

"Seven," Mal said, troubled. "Huh."

"What?" Jayne said, feeling he was missing something important.

"Hmm? Nothing. Not a thing. I just…" Mal turned his head toward Zoe. "Does that seem low to you?"

"It does, sir," Zoe said, instantly.

"That ain't low," Jayne said, offended.

"Stop it!" Marco ordered, his double-barreled shotgun still trained on the pair.

"Seven percent's standard," Jayne said with irritation.

"Okay," Mal said with a laugh. "Zoe, I'm payin' you too much."

"Why?" Jayne asked. "What does _she_ get?"

"Knock it off!" demanded Marco.

"Look," said Mal. "Forget I said anything. I'm sure you're treated very well. You get the perks, got your own room-"

Jayne blinked at Mal.

"No?" Mal asked.

Jayne's jaw twitched, uncomfortably.

"You share a bunk?" Mal asked with incredulity; it was more of a statement than a question.

Jayne looked at Robbins, with his balding head and walrusy mustache over to the right, on the other side of Marco. "With _that_ one," he said.

Robbins responded by raising his pistol higher, still aiming it at Mal.

"Really?" Mal asked, stifling a laugh.

Marco turned to his left. "Jayne! This ain't funny!"

"Yeah," Jayne said. "I ain't laughin'."

Mal pointed with his right index finger at his head. "You move over to this side, we'll not only show you where the stuff's at, we'll see to it you get your fair share, not no sad seven."

"Private room?" Jayne asked.

"Jayne!" Marco barked.

"Your own room, full run of the kitchen – whole shot," Mal said.

"Jayne! I ain't askin'-" Marco yelled, turning toward Jayne, who promptly lowered his revolver and shot Marco in the left thigh.

"Shut up," said Jayne.

Marco went down, his shotgun forgotten on the ground, as he cried out and grasped his leg. Jayne cocked his revolver and pointed it at Robbins, who lowered his gun defensively.

"How big a room?" Jayne asked with a hint of awe, not to mention greed, in his voice.

 **O-O-O**

Twenty minutes later, with Marco and Robbins tied up back to back on the floor of the cargo bay, Mal led Jayne Cobb, as the Captain had now come to know him, down into the bunk vacated by Bester.

He was stunned. "The bunk I shared on _The Black Rider_ ain't even half this size," he said, "and it weren't got no toilet or sink, neither. I know exactly how I'm gonna decorate it, too."

"Let me show you the rest," Mal said, "introduce you to the crew, since this is gonna be your new home."

"And ten percent off the top? That ain't a joke?" He started up the ladder after Mal.

"No joke, Jayne. I'm a man of my word, and we need a third fighter pretty badly. You'll definitely be expected to earn your keep, though."

"That ain't gonna be a problem, Captain," Jayne said. "I once hit a guy in the neck at five hundred yards with a bent scope. You need someone killed, I'm your man. Gun, knife, grenade, bare hands, you name it, and my bunk on the _Rider_ is practically an armory, so I'll be coming with a big cache of weapons and ammo."

"I don't doubt it," Mal said. "And your tracking skills won't go to waste, either. Oh, by the way, we got a registered Companion on board. Hands off her; and no matter how much money you save up, she don't service crew, so don't even think about asking, or you'll probably get a slap in the face for your trouble."

"I ain't never seen a real Companion," Jayne said.

Three hours later, Jayne pulled up in the Mule, its trailer attached, to _The Black Rider_. He ran it up the ramp and into the cargo bay, then got off and headed toward his erstwhile bunk, a bunk that Robbins could have all to himself now.

"Where's the Cap and Robbins?" asked Baker, the pilot, who was walking through the corridor by the bunks.

"They're dead," he lied. "They skunked the job, and I'm outta here. Signing onto a different vessel. I'm just back for my stuff."

" _Wangbadan!"_ Baker exclaimed. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"Ain't my problem," said Jayne, still walking. He got to his old bunk and began packing his things, including an impressive array of rifles, handguns, shotguns, hand grenades, knives, and even a five-bladed glaive he had picked up a while back. When he had packed everything into three large duffels and a pair of plastic totes, he loaded them all on the trailer at the back of the Mule and took off, but not before telling Baker, "Give Nita a kiss for me, and tell everyone I said goodbye!" At that, he roared off and back to _Serenity_.

 **O-O-O**

Later, Jayne had unpacked his belongings, and had mounted most of his weapons on a section of pegboard wall next to his bed, then pinned a blanket over it to hide his arsenal from prying eyes. Vera and his grenade launcher were mounted in the center, ready to pull out at a moment's notice in an emergency.

Captain Marco Jester and Henry Robbins had been set free, once they had been relieved of their weapons and the contents of their pockets, save for their ident cards and a ring of keys. The ship immediately took off once they had disembarked, to prevent the crew of _The Black Rider_ from returning and seeking revenge; after stopping to dig up the contraband that Mal and Zoe had buried in the desert, they set off for another moon to try their luck with a real fence they had dealt with before, hopefully this one wouldn't try to rob and kill them, too.

Jayne was happy as he sat down to the evening meal; a higher cut of the bounty meant more money he could send home, and that would help his ma, Mattie, and Jenny.

"Cap," Jayne said. "You mind if I say grace?"

Mal was already eating, as were Wash and Zoe. "Only if you say it out loud," he answered.

Jayne and Kaylee clasped their hands together and bowed their heads in silent prayer for a few seconds before digging into their meals. Kaylee had already heard this particular quip from Cap.

One aspect of the meal that did not go unnoticed by several people at the table was the fact that Jayne kept stealing glances at Inara and Kaylee. At one point, the Companion caught him staring at her and rolled her eyes. When the meal was over, Jayne got up from the table and announced, "I'll be in my bunk," before heading off.

Inara turned to Mal after Jayne had gone. "Mark my words, Mal, that _ben tiansheng de yi dui rou_ is going to be trouble."

"Maybe," Mal said, "but I guarantee that if Reavers ever board this ship, you're going to wish you were standing behind him," he said.

Despite that, however, it was Kaylee that was most affected by Jayne's signing on. That night, when she heading for bed, she approached the entrance to her bunk and pushed it open; as she did so, she looked at the sign she had attached in between the rungs of her ladder, a sign that she had crafted ornately, which simply said "Kaylee's Room", but with swirls and drawings of flowers and glitter. Tucked behind a corner of the sign was an origami flower made out of yellow paper, and Kaylee noticed some writing peeking out from inside of it. She gently unfolded part of the flower, and saw that someone had drawn a heart inside the center of the flower, and had written "J.C. + K.F." inside the heart, which had an arrow through it. Blushing furiously, Kaylee climbed down into her bunk, and returned to the top of the ladder with a tube of horse glue. She then set about the task of permanently affixing the flower to her sign.

She then climbed down into her room again; she had seen a couple of the other bunks, and knew that more thought and attention had gone into the decorating of her bunk than anyone else's, and more of her cut went for knick-knacks and souvenirs of their travels than anything else, save for clothes and the money she sent home to her daddy every month.

Part of Kaylee's charm was to see the best in everyone, and while there was much about Jayne that was downright terrifying, he obviously liked her, and she thought that was sweet.

She pulled one of the stuffed animals off the shelf next to her bed and squeezed it tightly. "I kinda like you too, Jayne," she said to it.

 **O-O-O**

Once Marco's leg had been patched up by a doctor in town, _The Black Rider_ set a course for one of the settlements on Triumph, loaded for bear with textiles, tools, and building supplies. The Triumph settlers did not have much by way of money, but word had it that they were excellent farmers, brewers, and distillers, and would barter large quantities of produce, cider, beer, and moonshine in exchange for anything that was brought to them by the ships that occasionally landed for trade. All of these items would fetch a high price on Beaumonde, especially if they could get the perishables there before they began to wilt.

Baker, Nita, and the others had been pleased to learn that Marco and Robbins weren't dead, and were equally shocked by Jayne's betrayal, but Marco wasn't about to hold a grudge. He had tried to steal from _Serenity_ , and he had lost, fair and square. He made a mental note to give Robbins and the other fighters a raise, and to give any fighters he hired in the future eight and a half percent, in hopes of preventing a re-occurrence of the day's events.

He picked up the book he had been reading from his nightstand, a novel called "Black Widow" by Muriel Jameson, and continued reading.

It was going to take nearly a week to get to Triumph, and he had a lot of reading to do in the meantime.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on its way to Paquin, a battered ship took notice of _Serenity_ on its sensors and a pair of hands, filthy and covered with bleeding sores and self-inflicted cuts, typed in a course correction on a keyboard, and the ship, which left a glowing trail of hard radiation behind it, began to give chase. A toothless grin covered the pilot's face, and he slapped a red button on his console, sounding klaxons all over the ship. He turned his head, a mottled red and purple dome missing clumps of hair all over its crown, and looked behind him. In the compartments aft of the bridge, a chorus of screaming began to rise as his Clan, already hungry, readied themselves for the grand feast to come, as well as all the other festivities that implied.

The pilot reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of dentures before placing them into his mouth and grinning again. Each synthetic tooth had been filed down to a sharp point, all the better to rip and tear the flesh of his victims as he feasted.

Over the comm system, the sound of drums began to fill the ship, as the pilot's mouth began to water at the sound of the tribal music.

 **(Author's Note: And there you have it, my first two-parter, marking Jayne's arrival on** ** _Serenity,_** **with a very dark and ominous ending. First of all, the opening scene with Robbins, Marco, and Jayne confronting Mal and Zoe outside of the ship, is verbatim from Episode 8: "Out of Gas". As for future developments, the next chapter (15) will be unique, insofar as it will not feature the crew of** ** _Serenity_** **at all, and the chapter that follows it (16) will be unlike anything you've read in this story thusfar, because Reavers. Chapter sixteen, despite featuring Reavers and requiring trigger warnings, will be canon, however, as the scene I plan on writing was revealed by the show's creators following Firefly's cancellation as one they had intended to produce as a flashback that took place in the year before the events of the pilot Episode, "Serenity".)**

 **(Next Time: Dead Crazy On Top Of It - Eilish Harris meets Marco, the Captain of Jayne's old ship, and marries him. Evil ensues.)**


	15. Dead Crazy On Top Of It

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 15: Dead Crazy On Top Of It  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I do know my Bible, sir: On the night of their betrothal, the wife shall open to the man, as the furrow to the plow, and he shall work in her in and again, 'till she bring him to his full, and rest him then upon the sweat of her breast."  
-"Saffron", Episode 6: "Our Mrs. Reynolds"**

Eilish Harris watched as the ship came in for a landing at the Triumph Settlement. She looked around at the congregation of settlers and spotted her friend and accomplice, Bethany, and stepped over to her through the wind from the craft's engines as it settled into the clearing on the south side of town.

She caught Bethany's attention and held out her hand; the young woman looked at Eilish from behind her bonnet and reached out, her palm open. Eilish placed a 25-platinum coin into it and said, "The usual this time, nothing fancy."

Bethany nodded and walked away; it wouldn't do for the two women to be seen together. While Eilish watched, Bethany took up a position to the left of and behind Elder Gommen. The ship was a Balerophon G-19, a mark twelve with a radeon 4 accelerator core. She watched with interest, as half the town did, as the ship's cargo ramp lowered and six people exited the vessel, one of them with a distinct limp.

The one with the limp, probably the Captain, from the looks of it, spoke to a pair of people, who both pointed at Elder Gommen. He then stepped to the Elder, and spoke to him for a few minutes before the pair disappeared up the ramp and inside the vehicle. When they returned, ten minutes later, the Captain spoke to a few members of his crew, while he and the Gommen walked off together. Meanwhile, the three crew members returned to their ship and began unloading cargo. As Bethany made her way back to Eilish, Eilish spied a young woman on the crew, hoping that her instincts were wrong.

Bethany took up a position next to Eilish; the two did not make eye contact as the young woman spoke.

"The ship is _The Black Rider,_ and she's five days out of Paquin," Bethany said. "They're carrying building materials, tools, and cloth, mostly. The Captain is named Marco Jester, and they're headed for Beaumonde tomorrow morning, once they load up with barter. I don't see no wedding ring on the Captain's finger. According to the Captain, the only woman on the crew is a fighter for them. Used to be a Browncoat."

"Good," said Eilish. "We'll make our move tonight."

"Ain't no problem," said Bethany. "Tavern?"

"Tavern," Eilish repeated. "I'll buy the wine, this time."

Bethany smiled. "It ain't my turn, after all," she said.

"Make sure the Deaf Tones are playing tonight," Eilish said. The Deaf Tones were a local musical ensemble, and Bethany's husband was their fiddler.

The Captain had long-ish hair, and spoke with a thick accent that indicated he was either from Titan Colony or Delphi on Hera. He was also pretty ugly, which meant he was either a whoremonger, or very, very lonely, or both. Either way, that would make her job much easier. They were also going to Beaumonde, as most of the ships that left this place did. That was perfect for her plans as well. One again, fortune had smiled on her. She already knew what she wanted to do with her cut of the job.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on a Skyplex orbiting Ezra, Bester was led to a security door on the station. An armed guard input a code, and the door slid open. On the other side of the entrance was a huge, muscular man with a large raven tattoo covering the left side of his face.

"Crow," said a voice from deep inside the room, with an accent that indicated he was from Artemis, making his ancestry from Russia or Czechoslovakia, back on Earth-That-Was, "bring him in."

The man, who had his long, ash blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail, led him into the office of an older, bald man. He already knew the older man was Adelai Niska. An antique, stained glass lamp adorned his desk.

"I am told you are good with ships," Niska said. "We have need of a mechanic on one of our vessels. You know radeon cores, yes?"

Bester was terrified; he knew Niska's reputation as a torturer and a psycho, but he needed this job, badly. "I do, sir."

"Good," Niska said. "Viktor will take you to our ship, ' _Valiant_ '. You get her fixed, you have job with us. You can't fix, well, then we go our separate ways."

Bester nodded. "Of course, sir." Niska pushed a button on his desk and called for Viktor. A few seconds later, a tall man with dark skin and an expensive, collarless shirt took him from Niska's office and down several winding corridors to an airlock, where an Avenger-class transport was docked.

"This is the _Valiant_ ," Viktor said as he led Bester through the forecouple, then to the engine room to the aft of the ship. "Her core stopped spinning while docked here. Our last mechanic couldn't figure out the problem; he doesn't work for Mr. Niska anymore."

"He sign on to another vessel?" Bester asked.

"No," said Viktor. "Let's just say that you don't want to leave Mr. Niska's employ on bad terms."

Bester looked over the engine carefully, not seeing anything wrong. Then he checked the stator assembly on the bottom of the core housing, where he saw telltale scorch marks on a boxy component. "Looks like it's the reg couple," he said.

"The what?" Viktor asked; he had no aptitude for engines.

"Te reg couple," Bester said, showing off. "It don't serve much of a purpose, only gums up the works when it gets tacked." He pulled the unit out, and grabbed a spanner, setting about his work.

"So I figure, why even have one?" Bester asked rhetorically. "You just take your G-line, plug it straight into the port pin-lock, and…"

The engine clanked, and began to cycle. "There."

Viktor was stunned. "You fixed it? Already?"

Bester beamed. "I fixed it already," he said.

"Okay," Viktor said. "I'll tell Mr. Niska. Consider yourself hired; you're the new mechanic on the _Valiant_."

Bester breathed a sigh of relief. He was out of money, and had nowhere to stay on Ezra after tonight, let alone get to another world to look for work. When Viktor was gone, he closed his eyes and said a silent prayer.

Now, if he could only manage not to screw this one up, he'd be employed with Niska for as long as he wanted, and at Niska's rates, he'd never want to leave.

 **O-O-O**

That night, the tavern on Triumph was full, as The Deaf Notes played while people danced on an empty stretch of floor. Elder Gommen had bought the crew of _The Black Rider_ dinner and some drinks, having alredy promised them a wealth in bartered produce and alcohol that would earn them a small fortune on Beaumonde, for which he had accepted their entire cargo.

Marco was obviously happy, and already drunk, from the looks of it. Eilish watched him for a long time before approaching him. "We are well met, sir," she said. "Thank you for bringing civilization to our small hamlet." She then placed a flowery wreath she had woven earlier in the day, on top of his head.

Marco smiled, pointing at the wreath of white and yellow flowers adoring his head as he joked with his first officer, who was sitting next to him. Next, Eilish knelt at Marco's feet and picked up a bowl of mulled wine, cradling it in her palms as she raised it to the Captain's lips, feeding it to him until the wine was completely gone. She placed the bowl on the floor and stood, joining the circle of dancers. Now it was up to Bethany to complete her next and final task.

As Eilish danced, Bethany approached the Captain and his first officer, grabbing them by the hands and pulling them towards the dancers. The trio joined the circle as Eilish took up a place in the center, dancing alone. After a few long seconds, she stepped forward to the Captain and pulled him into the center of the circle, joining hands with him.

The ceremony was complete.

She raised her hands in the air, pulling his arms skyward as well, as people all around them shouted out, "Zhuhe!" Fortunately for Eilish, no one personally congratulated Marco, and no one on the crew became suspicious of the exclamations. So much the better for her.

Once the song was complete, Eilish excused herself, then stepped out of the tavern and made her way to the ship, climbing up its ramp and entering the cargo bay, filled as it was with jugs of alcohol and crates of produce. She found a nook between a stack of cargo and the starboard hull, and curled up in an attempt to grab a nap on the cold, hard floor.

When she awoke the next morning, she could tell from the vibration in the deck plating and the increased gravity that _The Black Rider_ was already underway. She got to her feet and wandered aft, as no one was in the cargo bay. She climbed a set of stairs and entered the Bridge of the ship, where the pilot was seated, and the Captain was standing over his shoulder, conferring with him.

She stood in silence for several minutes before Marco turned around and flinched in shock at the sight of Eilish, and cried out as he placed a hand on the pistol at his hip.

"Who the _tian xiaode_ are you?" he exclaimed.

Eilish gave a soft smile as she bowed her head reverently, a lock of her strawberry blonde hair failing across her eyes. "My name is Saffron, Captain Jester, sir. I am your wife."

 **O-O-O**

Thirty-one hours later, Eilish, or "Saffron", jettisoned an escape pod as _The Black Rider_ approached the Carrion House floating in deep space. She bypassed the electrical net, watching with satisfaction from her viewport as the ship passed into the nexus of electrical arcs and came to a complete stop.

The crew of _The Black Rider_ was dead, and good riddance.

Eilish shuddered as she thought of the night of passion she'd given Captain Jester, The _hundan_ hadn't even bothered to wash before they'd rolled, but in keeping with her Companion training, she'd acted as though his odious form had been beautiful and as sweet as a bouquet of roses.

She grasped the controls of the escape pod and navigated it into the docking bay on the very top of the structure, and once the doors were closed, she exited the vehicle. One of the staff met her in the bay.

She stepped over to him. "Tell Crowthers that I want extra for this job. The Captain was filthy; it was like having sex with a pile of _go-se_ , Bree."

Bree smiled. "I'll pass it along to the boss; I'm sure it won't be a problem. This is an awfully nice ship you've brought us. It's small, but it's got plenty of flash, and should bring a good price at market."

"Good," she said. "No shuttles on this one, so I'm gonna need a ride back to Triumph."

"You'll have to wait a few days, but that won't be a problem, either. The _Valiant_ is up and running again and will be by for the first load of parts three, four days tops."

"Is my room ready?"

"Sure is, Bridget. All stocked and waiting for you."

"Okay," she said. "If anyone needs me, I'll be taking a shower, then a nap. Otherwise, tell the boss I'll see you all at dinner."

 **(Author's Note: So, now we know "Saffron's" real name, and know the fate of Marco and his crew. The Carrion House, like Saffron, were seen in Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds". I thought it might be a nice idea to have the scrap shop run by Niska, or at least be in business with her crew.)**

 **(Next Time: Taking One For The Team – As the ship is boarded by a Reaver raiding party, Inara takes an action that might save the crew, and condemn her to a fate worse than mere death.)**


	16. Taking One For The Team

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 16: Taking One For The Team  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **If they take the ship, they'll rape us to death, eat our flesh, and sew our skins into their clothing. And if we're very, very lucky, they'll do it in that order."  
-Zoe Alleyne Washburne - Episode 1: "Serenity"**

 **[Trigger Warning: This Chapter contains depictions of rape.]**

A warning klaxon awoke Wash with a start; it was a proximity warning, which sent him scurrying out of bed without waking Zoe, and running for the ladder.

Once inside the Bridge, he sat down at his chair and was joined almost immediately by the Captain.

"Ship on intercept approach, Mal," he said. "It reads as an Atlas-class vessel, closing fast."

"Change course and go for hard burn, Wash," Mal said. "And get me rear feed."

Wash yanked the stick hard over and engaged the engine at full capacity. Then he punched a couple of buttons on his panel, bringing up a video feed.

"They're coming about, and still gaining," Wash said, alarmed.

Mal looked at the video feed. The ship's bow was splashed with red, apparently blood, and had several bodies lashed to her. "Reavers," he said, picking up the microphone and slapping a button.

"This is the Captain. We have a Reaver ship closing. I need all hands on deck; they appear to mean to board."

Within a few minutes, everyone aboard was in the Bridge, with Inara joining them last, a laser pistol in one hand, and a small black box in the other.

"Look at that, Mal," said Zoe, looking at the rear feed. "She's got a grappler mounted. They get a bead on us, we're finished."

"Wash, you gotta give me some evasive maneuvers; we can't let them lock us down."

"Sure thing, Cap," Wash said, yanking the stick hard over and sending her into a spiraling dive, then a barrel roll. "But I don't know how long we can hold out; she's faster than we are, and almost as maneuverable."

Jayne looked like he wanted to burst into tears. "Wash, get us the hell out of here!"

Still giving chase, the Reaver ship fired the grappler, which narrowly missed, causing Wash to send the boat careening through another series of evasive maneuvers.

"I can try to route more power through the core," said Kaylee. "We won't be able to outrun them, but we might be able to match their speed."

"Do it," said Mal, and Kaylee ran off to the engine room.

Mal was desperate. "Wash, are there any Alliance vessels nearby? If we can match her speed and stay out of range long enough to reach her, they'd be able to drive them off."

Wash looked at his panel. "Nearest Alliance vessel is the cruiser _Magellan_ , at least six hours out from here. We'd never make it; even if Kaylee can boost the engine, we'd never be able to sustain it that long without burning out the core."

Jayne loaded a grenade into his launcher and snapped it shut. "We ain't got no choice, Mal. They're never gonna give us up. Nothing left but to let 'em board and make a stand in the cargo bay."

Zoe nodded. "I'm sorry, sir, but I have to agree."

"If they grappled us," Inara suggested, "what if we all took off in the shuttles?"

"No good," said Wash. "The shuttles would never make it to any ship or inhabited system. They'd just decouple from _Serenity_ , and then pick us off, one by one."

At that moment, a loud "clang" was heard throughout the ship as the grappler made contact with a lucky shot. "They're onto us, Mal!" Wash exclaimed.

"Ninety degrees starboard," Mal said. "Try to shear the grappler off."

Wash completed the maneuver, with a groaning sound ringing throughout the ship. "No good, Mal. They've locked on tight."

"Okay, slow to idle, Wash," Mal said, picking up the microphone. "Kaylee, get to the common area. Lock all the doors on your way there."

"Yes, Cap'n," Kaylee's voice came through the intercom.

"Okay, Wash, Inara, get to the common area. Zoe and Jayne, let's get armed for bear and get to the cargo bay. Wash, lock all the doors as you make your way to the common area, then lock yourselves inside," Mal said.

As the Reaver ship maneuvered around to the fore of the ship and prepared to dock with its forecouple, Mal spun the combination dial on the weapons locker and opened it, handing out weapons and loaded magazines to Zoe and Jayne, who already carried a very deadly looking assault rifle and had a pistol at his hip. He then handed each of them three hand grenades, and clipped three to his belt.

Jayne looked terrified. "You put a bullet to me if they take me, Mal. I ain't kiddin'. If it looks like I'm gonna get ate, I want one right between the eyes."

"You got it," said Mal as they stepped away from the locker.

The trio took up positions behind cargo containers and prepared for the inevitable. Suddenly, another alarm began blaring throughout the ship, and the inner doors to the airlock began to slide open.

Inside the common area, Kaylee watched through the port window in the sealed bulkhead. "They popped the airlock!" she exclaimed.

Reavers began spilling into the cargo bay as soon as the door was open wide enough, and the trio of fighters opened up instantly, taking out the first wave with a series of headshots and critical body hits. Before long, there were over a dozen bodies littering the forward end of the cargo bay, and still more came spilling through.

"Fall back to the common area!" cried Mal, and Jayne and Zoe beat a hasty retreat along with their Captain. Kaylee opened the door for them, then sealed it behind.

"There's gotta be over twenty of them in there," Wash said, looking through the window, watching as the Reavers began tearing the cargo bay apart, tossing over boxes while looking for the ship's crew.

Inara stepped towards the door, then lifted her dress and pulled down her panties before stepping out of them.

"What the hell are you doin'?" Jayne asked as he watched Inara.

"Wash, get ready to open the door for me," Inara said, opening the long black box and pulling out a syringe filled with a milky white substance. She pulled up her dress again and, without hesitation, injected herself in her pubic mound.

"Are you crazy, Inara?" Mal asked. "You're not going in there!"

"It's the only way," she said, letting her dress fall and stepping toward the door. "Wash, let me through."

Wash looked at Mal, who said, "Do you know what you're doing, Inara?"

Inara didn't hesitate. "I do. They're heading towards the door. Hurry up and let me through!" she exclaimed.

Mal turned to Wash. "Open the door and let her go," he said.

Wash unlocked the door, and both Mal and Wash pulled at opposite sides of the bulkhead, opening it. Inara ran forward, through the door and got a couple dozen feet before they got their hands on her, tearing her dress apart and dragging her to the ground while Mal and Wash closed the door, and Wash locked it.

" _Ni tama de tianxia suoyou de ren dou gaisi!_ " exclaimed Mal.

The pair looked on with horror through the two portal windows on the door. Zoe stood behind her husband, sharing the window with him. As they watched, the Reavers fell upon her like a pack of wolves, ripping her clothing off and forcing her onto her back as Inara screamed. Within seconds, one was on top of her while the others held her arms and legs down. Mal gripped his pistol and considered blowing out one of the windows so he could fire through it.

"What the…?" Wash voiced his confusion as the Reaver on top of Inara collapsed onto her and stopped moving. A couple of the other Reavers pulled him off, and, after a brief struggle for dominance, another took his place, the first Reaver now forgotten on the floor.

"He ain't movin'," said Zoe, referring to the first Reaver that had raped Inara. "Is he dead?"

"He's not moving. At all," Wash said. As he spoke, the second Reaver collapsed. He was torn from Inara's body and replaced by a third.

"That one ain't moving, either," said Mal.

In the cargo bay, Inara squeezed her eyes shut, tears running down the sides of her face as she was violated. One Reaver after another was inside of her, and one by one, they died, exactly as she had planned when she injected herself with the dose of Dentatamine.

Inside the sealed common area, Mal turned away from the procession of dead Reavers through the window and looked at his mechanic. "Kaylee, do you know what was in that syringe? Inara ever tell you?"

Kaylee looked down at the box and the syringe, now discarded on the floor next to Inara's laser pistol. "I seen the box before, but I ain't never looked inside it. Inara never mentioned it," she said.

Mal looked back through the viewport. The last of the Reavers had collapsed, and Inara cried out as she pushed the body off of her and at the base of a pile of corpses next to her. She rolled onto her side and curled into a fetal position.

Mal unlocked the door. "Kaylee, get a blanket from the infirmary," he said, and opened the bulkhead, stepping through. He rushed to Inara.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. "I'm lethally toxic to anyone that touches me!"

A few seconds later, Kaylee ran up with the blanket. Mal wrapped it around her and scooped her into his arms, carrying her aft and through the bulkhead, past the rest of the crew. He stopped before entering the infirmary. "Zoe, Jayne, cut their throats. Make sure they're dead. Then suit up and board the Reaver ship; get that grapple off of us so we can go on our way. And get those _wangbadans_ off my ship. Put them back aboard their ship, dump them out the ventral 'lock, I don't care. Just get them the hell off my _gorram_ boat."

Jayne pulled out his knife as he and Zoe headed into the cargo bay. Wash and Kaylee followed Mal into the infirmary.

Mal deposited Inara, still wrapped in the blanket, into the chair at the center of the room, then put on a pair of latex gloves. "Kaylee, get her some water. Don't touch her, whatever you do."

Mal stroked Inara's forehead as she wept. "There, there," he said. "It's gonna be okay. It's all over now," he said. "They ain't never gonna hurt nobody ever again."

Kaylee handed him the water, and Mal tipped the cup up to her mouth; she drank eagerly, downing almost half of it before she leaned her head back with a sigh.

"What did you inject yourself with?" Mal asked.

Inara sighed. "It's an anti-rape drug issues to Companions by the Guild. It kills anyone we touch, especially if they rape us."

Mal nodded. "I thought it might be something like that," he said. "I ain't like to forget what you did anytime soon, Inara. You saved us. You saved all of us. That was incredibly brave."

"I was terrified they were going to start eating me while I was lying there," she said.

"You were lucky they didn't; you took an awful risk with that stunt." He brushed the hair from her eyes. "How long does it last?" he asked.

"Three hours," she said. "Or that's what they told me, anyway."

"Well, if you're feeling up for it, let me take you up to your shuttle, and you can sleep it off there," Mal suggested.

"I think I'd like that," Inara said. "I need to wash. They were disgusting. But I think I can walk."

"Nonsense," Mal said. "The Hero of the Battle of Serenity ain't going anywhere on her own two feet," he said. "Kaylee, you get the shuttle door open."

Kaylee headed out as Mal picked Inara up again, and carried her like a tattered bride to her shuttle, depositing her with care onto her bed. "I'll have Kaylee bring you dinner," he said. "You need anything, give a call and we'll be happy to take care of it for you."

"Thank you, Mal," Inara said.

And with that, Mal left, sealing the door behind him. He and Kaylee headed back down to the cargo bay to check on Zoe and Jayne's progress.

In her shuttle, Inara filled a sponge in a basin of water, and pressed it against herself as she began to cry again.

 **(Author's Note: I know this chapter is unpleasant and controversial, but for those that don't already know, it is based on canon. The creators of the series revealed after the show's cancellation that in a future episode, they had intended to show a flashback during which Reavers boarded the ship, and Inara threw herself at them, killing them all with the anti-rape drug seen in the pilot episode. I apologize for the shocking content, but in telling Deleted Scenes, this story needed to be told.)**

 **(Author's Note 2: From this point on, I have added a teaser synopsis to each placeholder chapter, so you not only have the title and quote to tide you over, but a snippet indicating what the chapter will actually be about to whet your appetite. Enjoy!)**

 **(Next Time: Some Wounds Never Heal - Inara, still recovering from her encounter with the Reavers, finds solace in an unlikely place. River continues her training at the Academy. Simon makes a contact that might help him find River. Book decides to go on a mission.)**


	17. Some Wounds Never Heal

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 17: Some Wounds Never Heal  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **One of the virtues of not being puritanical about sex is not feeling embarrassed afterwards. You should look into it."  
-Inara Serra, Episode 13 - "Heart of Gold"**

 _Serenity_ had been docked on Persephone for a week, and Inara had not yet seen any clients. She had appeared to have recovered from her ordeal, at least outwardly, and had even started taking meals in the galley again. Upon arrival, she had immediately seen a doctor, who ran tests, and informed her that she had contracted the Scrin, Syphilis, and Chlamydia, and gave her a pair of shots for all three, informing her to wait at least three days before having any sexual contact with anyone. He also prescribed a bottle of Harucodone to deal with the pain and tenderness in her pelvis, and allow her to do her job.

Three days later, she returned to the Doctor's to verify that yes, she was completely clean.

She had run an ad on the Cortex after seeing the Doctor the first time, but had been reluctant to take any clients. Deciding that she needed to get back in the saddle again as soon as possible, she had waited a couple of days, then accepted a proposal for an overnighter with a wealthy young man she had never seen before named Atherton Wing.

Atherton was charming when she had arrived at his mansion at three in the afternoon, and, after indulging in the Companion Greeting Ceremony onboard her shuttle, he convinced her – in his richly accented voice – that he would rather spend their time together in his home, and she relented, allowing him to lead her inside.

The mansion was well appointed, even opulent, and after kissing her in the foyer, he took her to his suite on the first floor, past several of his slaves, as they worked to clean and maintain his home. She undressed him before seductively taking off her dress, then led him by the hand onto the bed.

He wrapped his arms around her as he kissed her, and she suddenly tensed up, thrashing slightly against him before catching herself and softening against him.

"What's wrong?" Atherton asked.

"It's nothing," she said. "I'm fine."

Atherton pushed back from her, his hand on her shoulder at arm's length. "You're not fine; you're trembling."

Inara closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed. "I promised myself that I wouldn't bring my personal problems to work."

"I don't understand," he said.

Inara gave up all pretense of being alright. "Two days out from Paquin, on our way to Persephone, my ship was boarded by a Reaver raiding party."

"My God!" Atherton exclaimed. "How are you still alive?"

Inara closed her eyes again. "I injected myself with a fast-acting anti-rape drug the Guild issues to us, then I let them have me. All twenty-three of them."

"Good lord," he said. "I'm- I'm so sorry, _baobei_. No wonder you're shaking like a leaf."

"I'll refund your money, of course," she said, gazing into his eyes, an apologetic look on her face.

"Nonsense," he said. "I won't hear of it. Just because you're frightened doesn't mean you won't be paid. Just… Will you stay with me anyway? Just let me hold you for a while, and then we'll go out to dinner. When we return, if you're feeling up to it, you can still spend the night here. I'll maintain a respectable distance."

Inara smiled. "You're too kind, Atherton, not to mention generous. Of course I'll stay."

Atherton smiled, wrapping a sheet around her, then took her into his arms and held her close.

"Some wounds never heal," he said. "But, ever scarred, we can still try to lead happy lives. In time, with love and understanding, I'm sure you will heal."

She melted into his arms, and in time, her trembling stopped.

 **O-O-O**

In the Academy, River Tam stood alone in the center of the sparring room. She wore a hospital gown and nothing else; her hair was disheveled, and she hadn't bathed in weeks. A voice came over the public address system and spoke a phrase in Russian; a switch was flipped in her mind.

As she watched, seven large men entered the room. They were all condemned prisoners, each of whom was sentenced to die within the next month, and they had all been promised that if they could kill this one little girl, they would all receive pardons and be set free immediately.

Each of them carried a large knife.

One or two of the men sneered; this was going to be easy, or at least each of them thought as they filed into the room.

A buzzer sounded above, and all seven rushed her. As her "dance" began, River ducked under the blade of the first man, and kicked hard with her foot, shattering the kneecap and bending his leg backwards, the wrong way.

As the man howled in pain and fell to the matted floor, River leapt up and kicked the second man in the nose with the heel of her foot, driving the cartilage into his brain and killing him instantly. As he fell backwards, she grabbed his knife, and things only went downhill from there.

Within two minutes, all seven were dead, the last fatality being a blade in the side of the head of the man whose knee she had broken. Four armed security guards sped into the room, their assault rifles aimed at River. As she began to rush them, another Russian phrase was spoken overhead, and River stopped, dropping the blade to the ground; they led her out of the room, as docile as a lamb, and took her back to her quarters.

In the control booth, Doctor Matthias looked over her chart and spoke to the two people seated at the bank of monitors and controls in front of them. "That was over two minutes better than any of the others. River truly is a prodigy."

As they watched, the support staff entered the room and began to carry the bodies from the arena. "The kitchens for these ones, too?" one asked Matthias.

"Of course. The boys and girls deserve real protein, not that synthetic crap they serve the rest of us."

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, on Osiris, in Capital City, Doctor Simon Tam stepped from the Emergency Room at St. Luke's Hospital and walked down the corridor to the locker room. Once inside, he took off his Doctor's cloak, unbuttoning it at the shoulder and shrugging out of the white gown before pressing his hand on the reader panel of his locker, which sprung open. There was a letter taped to the upper shelf inside the compartment.

Quirking a brow, Simon pulled the letter from the shelf and tore open the envelope. Inside was a simple card, with a printed note inside. It simply read:

 **We know you are looking for us.  
Come to 285 S. 97th Street  
tonight at 5pm, and  
you will find us. Come alone.**

All the hair stood up on the back on Simon's neck, and on his arms. The address was in a Blackout Zone. He knew the dangers, but if he had any hope in _diyu_ of finding River, he'd have to go.

He placed the note in his pocket before changing out of his scrubs and putting on his clothes, depositing his gown in the locker, and the scrubs in the laundry basket. Then he proceeded out of the hospital and stepped into the crisp air of the early afternoon.

There were less than four hours to go until the meeting. He briefly considered going home and changing into less formal clothes, given the neighborhood he was going to, but decided he'd rather not answer any uncomfortable questions from his mother. He'd go dressed as he was and take his chances.

 **O-O-O**

That evening, on Persephone, Atherton and Inara dined on quail and asparagus paired with an old Bordeaux, and Atherton toasted Inara and wished her peace and a speedy recovery. When he wasn't looking, she took another pill, and before the dinner was through, the pain which had begun to distract her was gone, replaced by a feeling of euphoria.

A string quartet was playing at one end of the restaurant, and while they waited for dessert, she took Atherton by the hand and led him to the dance floor. As the two moved in rhythm to the music, she felt her tension melting away.

At the end of the evening, Atherton's driver flew them back to his estate. When they landed, he asked her if she would consent to stay the night. Inara agreed, but only on the condition that they spend it in her shuttle, in a familiar space.

Atherton nodded his assent with a smile, and they made their way across the lot to where Shuttle 1 was berthed. Inara led him inside, and once again began to undress him, to his surprise. They made love, Inara barely noticing the twinges of pain as they gyrated together, and when it was over, she fell fast asleep next to him, and did not wake until morning.

 **O-O-O**

The next morning, Shuttle 1 docked with _Serenity_ , and Kaylee was waiting on the catwalk as Inara exited. "Well?" she asked. "How did it go?"

Inara smiled, but her face held a hint of apprehension. "I almost couldn't do it, but he was kind, patient, and gentle, and after dinner, I was able to go through with it. I think I'm going to be okay," she said. "There's still some pain, though."

Kaylee placed her arms around Inara. "I'm glad it went alright. I've been real worried about you, ever since… well, you know."

Inara hugged Kaylee back. "I know. It's going to take some time, but this is just something I have to work through. In time, I'm sure I'll be fine."

"I'm glad to hear that."

"Thank you, _meimei_ ," Inara said.

"Would you like me to make you some pancakes?" Kaylee asked. "There's still some mix left."

Inara smiled. "That would be lovely," she said, and the pair made their way to the galley.

 **O-O-O**

Not far from the Eavesdown Docks, at the Southdown Abbey, Shepherd Derrial Book sat in the office of Abbot Jeffries, who stared across his desk at the Shepherd.

"What brings you here today, my son?" Jeffries asked.

Book smiled. "Abbot, I am here to ask your permission to go on a mission to the outer rings. I feel I've done all I can here, and I want to bring the word of the Lord to people that elsewise might not hear it."

The Abbot looked thoughtful. "You've come a long way since you first graced our doorstep, Brother Book. But I feel you still have a ways to go before you're ready to leave the cradle. Besides, it will take some time to raise the money necessary to send you on an extended mission. We'll start taking up a collection, and talk again in three months," he said.

Book's smile faltered. "I was hoping to be far away from here in three months, Abbot."

"Even if I wanted to send you on mission, Brother Book, we still don't have the funds available to do it. You'd have to book passage on a commercial transport for each world you'd visit, and that's going to take coin, coin we simply don't have. Besides," the Abbot said, "by the time you left, your fruits and vegetables will be ripe."

Book smiled again. "That's true," he said. "I suppose I have no choice, then. Three months, Abbot."

Jeffries agreed. "Yes, my child. In three months. You'll receive special training during that time, to ready you for the task ahead."

"Thank you, Abbot," Book said, and rose to leave.

 **(Author's Note: And so it begins. Soon enough, the last of the crew of** ** _Serenity_** **will be assembled, and we will enter the age of** ** _Firefly_** **. It's been a fun journey so far, and I hope for all our sakes that the best is yet to come.)**

 **(Next Time: They're Hurting Us - Simon contacts an organization called Shattered Moon, which promises to help him free River from the Academy, for a price.)**


	18. They're Hurting Us

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 18: They're Hurting Us  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"I, uh... I got a few letters at first, and then I didn't hear for months. Finally I got a letter that made no sense. She-she talked about things that never happened, jokes that-that we never... It was code. It just said... "They're hurting us. Get me out."  
-Simon Tam - Episode 1: "Serenity"**

Simon Tam walked down the streets of South 97th Street and looked around, nervously. He was in a Blackout Zone, and subject to search and seizure for being in the Zone without being a resident. Nervously, he spied the bar at the address he had been given, and after pacing back and forth for a few minutes, he stepped inside at exactly five in the evening.

The place was a dive, decrepit, and in need of renovation for decades. He made his way to the bar and ordered a hard cider, which was served to him in a bottle. He paid the bartender with a one-tenth of a credit bill and told him to keep the change, then, bottle in hard, turned and looked around the establishment.

At a booth near the back of the bar sat a pair of men who were staring at him intently. One of them lifted a hand and curled his fingers in a beckoning motion, once. Simon stepped towards the booth and sat down opposite the men.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"One moment," said one of the two men, dark skinned with a shaved head, and in his late 30s. The other man was white, with a shock of black hair that had been obviously dyed, and he was somewhat younger.

The younger man pulled out a small hand scanner and aimed it in Simon's direction, his eyes on the small readout at the back of the unit. When he was satisfied, he said, "He's clean. No transmitters, no recording devices, just a Wave Comm."

"Take the battery out of your comm.," said the older man. Simon reached into his pocket and popped the back off, dumping the battery into his hand and placing everything on the table in front of him.

"I'm Quinn," said the older man, "and this is Pembry." Or at least that's what you'll call us. We're with the Shattered Moon, and we know you've been searching for us."

"How did you find me?" Simon asked, almost in a whisper.

Quinn smiled slightly. "We have eyes and ears all across the Cortex. We know you have a sister who is attending Pennington Academy, and that you've been trying to make contact, to get her out. Why?"

Simon blinked, then spoke. "I received coded messages from my sister, indicating they were being hurt at the Academy. I've been trying to get to her for over two years now."

"And you never will, on your own," Quinn said. "We can help. We have an informant on the inside; we can help you."

"How?" Simon asked.

"The first thing we need to address is what's in it for us?" Quinn said.

Simon's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Ordinarily, we wouldn't get involved in a case like this, but our organization needs to constantly generate new revenue streams to survive. As a dissident movement, we're under constant threat, and have to take extraordinary measures to survive. You're a trust fund baby; your father is on the Board of Directors of Altek, Incorporated, and you make a substantial living as a trauma surgeon at St. Luke's. You have the means to help us. And this job won't be cheap."

Simon sighed. "We can talk terms later; I'll do whatever it takes to get River out. But first, I have to know what you know about the Academy."

Pembry spoke up. "It's not a school. It's a secret Alliance military medical and training installation. If she's there, they've been playing with her brain, making surgical alterations to her neural pathways to turn her into a psychic assassin."

"Psychic?" Simon was stunned. "Psychic powers aren't real."

"According to our informant, they are," Pembry said. "The evidence appears quite conclusive. They recruit the brightest people they can in the hopes that they can handle the constant chatter of other peoples' minds, as well as the psychological strain. If River's been there for over two years, she no doubt can read minds, and from a considerable distance. She's also a trained killer by now."

"The problem is," said Quinn, "that the procedures are not without side effects. By all accounts, the subjects are unstable; the symptoms are similar to paranoid schizophrenia. They use spoken trigger phrases implanted on a subconscious level to control their violent impulses and fragment their personalities to allow them to compartmentalize the trauma of the acts that they commit while on missions, or at least, that's the idea."

Simon was skeptical. "An assassin, I can understand. But why a psychic assassin?"

Pembry spoke again. "According to our informant, who has had a chance to view classified briefing papers, the subjects would be able to extract secrets vital to Alliance military intelligence even as they were preparing to murder them."

"That's quite a story," Simon said. "I'm not saying that I believe you, but as I said, I'm willing to do whatever I have to in order to get her out. But before I pay you a single credit, I want proof that you're on the level."

Quinn smiled and nodded, reaching to his side for a soft-sided leather attaché, which he opened, pulling out a file, which he passed over to Simon. "This should satisfy your need for proof," he said.

Simon opened the file, which contained a sheaf of papers inside of it. At the top, paper clipped to the papers was a photograph of a very unhappy looking River Tam, her hair much longer than he had ever seen it. He began to leaf through the file.

After ten minutes of scanning the file, he closed it again and passed it back to Quinn. "What do we do?" he asked.

"We'll see if our informant can sneak her out in cryo; after that, we get her to you. You'll have to find a way to shelter her from the authorities; you can't bring her home, however. Once they realize that she's gone, that's the first place they'll look."

"As long as you don't drain me dry, I'll be able to find a place for her to hide out. Maybe get her off Osiris."

"Good," said Quinn. "Now, we're going to need an initial payment of ten thousand credits. Consider it earnest money for our operation. We'll see how far that gets us, and go from there. Expect to pay a lot more, however."

"Alright," Simon said without batting an eye. "When do you need it by?"

"Leave it in a bag in your locker at work tomorrow afternoon. We'll come for it while you're on duty," he said.

"Alright," Simon replied. "And what if your informant can't get her out in cryo? I'm not funding you if you can't make good on your promises."

Pembry spoke, this time. "We have a Plan B," he said. "It would take some more involvement on your part, but if you're all in, I'm confident you can do it." Pembry suddenly became distracted by something over Simon's shoulder. "Oh, _go-se_!"

"What is it?" Simon asked.

"You need to leave, now," said Quinn, nodding at three Feds that had just stepped into the establishment. "Come back in no less than an hour. We'll be here for another four. If you don't come back within four hours, we'll have to pick up this conversation another time."

Simon stood up to leave, pocketing the components of his phone and taking his bottle with him before depositing it on the bar as he passed it; Quinn put the file away in his case. The Feds were checking ident cards of everyone in the establishment, and Simon almost made it out the door when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

"Ident card, sir," a voice belonging to the hand said.

Simon turned and pulled his ident card out of his wallet, handing it over to the Federal Officer, who placed it in a reader. "You don't live in this zone." It was more a statement than a question.

"No, I don't," Simon said.

"Then you're under arrest for being a Class A citizen in a Blackout Zone," the Fed responded, taking out a pair of handcuffs and calling for backup from outside. A pair of feds that had been guarding the door outside came in and took charge of him, placing him in a paddy wagon parked outside the establishment. He sat with three others; no one spoke; it was likely the holding compartment was bugged.

It was going to be a long night. At least he'd get a wave once he was processed at the station.

 **O-O-O**

"Simon Tam," said a voice from the hallway outside the holding tank. Simon stood and stepped to the door, which the guard opened, then closed again once Simon was through.

Simon was led down a long corridor, then turned down another as he was indicated by the guard. He could see his father at the reception desk, and stepped up to him. Simon's father, Gabriel Tam, approached his son as well.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Gabriel asked Simon.

"Pretty nearly," Simon said.

"We got the wave at the Friedlichs'. I had to leave your mother at the dinner table."

"I'm sorry, dad. You know I would never have tried to save River's life if I had known there was a dinner party at risk."

"Don't you dare be flippant with me; I just paid two thousand credits to get you out of here, and I had to walk through that door, which goes on my permanent profile." Gabriel paused for a long moment. "Are you trying to destroy this family?" he asked.

"I didn't realize it would be so easy," Simon replied, and an uncomfortable silence settled between them. "Dad, I didn't do anything."

"You were in a _Blackout Zone!"_ The last two words came out as a hoarse, incredulous whisper.

" _Talking!_ To someone who might be able to help River. And I'm going right back there." Simon began to step past his father.

Gabriel grabbed Simon roughly by the arm. " _Chufei wo si le!_ This is a slippery slope, young man; you have no idea how far down you can go, and you're not taking us with you."

"Meaning what?" Simon asked.

"I won't come for you again," Gabriel said. "You end up in here, or get mixed up in something worse, you're on your own. I will not come for you."

Another uncomfortable silence settled between the two of them. Gabriel finally broke the silence. "Now, are you coming home?"

Simon looked at his father for a long time, before an expression of disgust and ridicule briefly crossed his face. He walked off without a word, leaving his father there, in stunned silence, and hailed a taxi to take him back to the bar.

 **O-O-O**

Doctor Matthias stood in the control booth, the image of River on the large screen as she huddled in her room, still in her gown, her hair a mess, as always.

"Simon is coming for me," she said. "I have to get ready. Simon is coming for me. I need a bath. I need to brush my hair. Simon is coming for me."

"Who is Simon, Doctor?" one of the technicians asked, turning briefly.

"He's her older brother," Matthias said. "She's been particularly obsessed with him lately, mentions him often in her sessions. She first mentioned that he was looking for her the day she killed Doctor Whedon."

"Do you think there's any danger, Doctor? You know her potentials are off the scale; there's no telling what she might be picking up."

Matthias sighed. "Have her security doubled when she's not in session or in the implantation room," he said. "We don't want any further… unfortunate incidents."

 **(Author's Note: For those that don't already know, Doctor Matthias is the gentleman at the Academy who was killed by the Operative's sword at the beginning of the Serenity movie. The scene with Simon and his father Gabriel, except for the ending, comes verbatim from Episode 5: "Safe", and was shown in a flashback.)**

 **(Next Time: High Noon - While on a job, Mal and the crew try and make some extra money acting as deputies as they help a town's sole remaining lawman protect his people from a gang of bandits.)**


	19. High Noon

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 19: High Noon  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Now think real hard. You been bird-doggin' this township a while now. They wouldn't mind a corpse of you. Now you can luxuriate in a nice jail cell, but if your hand touches metal, I swear by my pretty floral bonnet, I will end you."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 6: "Our Mrs. Reynolds"**

Just outside the town of Medira, on Santho, Mal, Zoe, and Jayne were making a drop, trading stolen goods with a contact named Belton, while the rest of the crew, namely Wash, Kaylee and Inara, took their leave in town, provisioning and grabbing a drink and a bite to eat in the local watering hole.

Belton had a concerned look on his face as he passed over the sack of platinum coins to Mal. To the Captain, that was a sure sign of trouble, and he took the sack with his left hand, keeping his right close to his hip, in case things started to go very wrong with this deal.

"You look upset, Belton. Everything okay?"

Belton sighed. "Actually, no. We've got big problems in Medira, and if you're willing to spend a couple of days on Santho, I think I may be able to line up some more work for you."

Jayne was loading crates from the Mule onto Belton's offroader. "More money sounds good to me," he said.

Belton smiled, sadly. "Then go back to your ship and load up with weapons, then meet me at the town Marshall's office. I'd recommend at least one sniper rifle, if you have a sniper in your crew, automatic weapons, and maybe even some hand grenades."

"You guys at war or something?" Mal asked.

"Something like that," Belton replied. "I'll let the Lawman explain."

An hour later, with a load of weapons in a bag on the trailer of the Mule, the trio of fighters pulled into town. The first thing they noticed was the bullet holes in the wood frame buildings, and the fact that many of the windows seemed to be boarded up or were missing panes of glass. They got off the Mule and made their way to the Marshall's office, with Jayne carrying the duffell over his shoulder.

Benton was waiting inside with a young man who had a gold star on his chest. "Mal, this is Deputy Jenkins," Belton said.

The Deputy stood up and shook hands with each of them. "Thank you so much for coming," he said.

"What's the problem?" Mal asked. "And where's the Sheriff?"

"Sheriff Brenner's dead," Jenkins replied. "So are the other three Deputies. I'm all that's left of the law around here."

"What the _diyu_ happened here?" Mal asked.

"The Adams Gang," Jenkins said. "Three of the Adams brothers and five of their pals have been shooting up the town for weeks now. They've killed over a dozen men, robbed the bank and the livery first, stealing a dozen horses. Last week they came in a truck, most of them on horseback, and cleaned out the general store. Bank's been replenished and the store's due to be restocked with a shipment we're getting in from Boynton tomorrow morning, but I'm afraid that it's just a matter of time before they come back. Law enforcement account's got plenty of money from bail and for salaries, so I can pay you well if you can take them down."

Mal was thoughtful. "One hundred platinum a day, three hundred for taking out or subduing the Adams Gang. Five hundred in advance," he said.

Jenkins winced, but felt he didn't have any choice. "Done," he said. "Come with me to the bank and I'll get you the money right away."

He reached into a desk drawer and pulled out three gold stars. "Consider yourselves deputized," Jenkins said.

In turn, each of them picked up a badge and pinned it to their chests. " _Jingsai!_ " said Jayne. "I ain't never been a Lawman before. Shiny! What would my ma think?"

"I think she'd be proud that you're killing on the right side of the law for a change, Jayne," Mal said before turning to Jenkins. "Shall we?"

Jenkins led them to the bank, and withdrew the funds before handing over the platinum in a large cloth sack.

Mal turned to his first officer. "Zoe, you go get Wash and tell him to get Inara and Kaylee back to the ship with the money. Then have him lock _Serenity_ up tight and get back here with the Mule. We're on a four-man watch tonight, three hour shift."

"Got it," said Zoe, heading off with a sack in each hand.

Wash, Jenkins, and Jayne headed out into the street. "Which way do they usually come from?" asked Mal.

"They always ride in from the North. They each carry a rifle or an assault rifle, and one or two pistols. When they arrive, they start shooting the buildings up to clear the streets, then half of them stand watch around the truck while the rest clean out whatever shop they're targeting."

"Okay," said Mal. "Jayne, I want you up in that church bell tower," he pointed to the position he had in mind, at the end of the street and overlooking the main drag of the town.

Jayne nodded, then placed a transceiver in his ear as Mal did the same. Zoe was walking back by this point, and as Wash, Inara, and Kaylee got on the Mule, Mal called out, "Wash, get an extra transceiver from the ship's stores. You'll need it!"

Wash waved, indicating that he understood and got on the Mule, while Zoe put her transceiver in her ear. "Testing," said the Captain.

"Receiving," said Zoe.

"You're comin' in loud and clear," said Jayne, who then zipped open the bag, pulling out his assault rifle and a sniper rifle, as well as several magazines before heading off toward the church.

"Zoe, take up watch from the front of the tavern. I'll be in front of the Allied Post Office."

"Yes, sir," she said, and walked away after loading up .

"Where do you want me?" Jenkins asked.

"Take a horse out on the road and stay out on the rise, where Jayne can see you. You see them coming, ride like a rutting cheetah for town, your pistol in the air to signal us. By the way, when's that shipment coming in from Boynton?"

"Around ten in the morning," Jenkins said as he and Mal walked to the front of the Sheriff's office, and unhitched his horse. "That's an hour after the bank opens."

"My guess is that's when they'll hit, but we'll stay on guard, just in case."

"Thank you, Captain Reynolds," Jenkins held out his hand to Mal again, who shook it.

"Call me Mal," he said.

"Okay, Mal. See you for dinner, then?" Jenkins asked.

"Yeah," Mal said. "Around six, at the tavern. You think someone can bring a meal to Jayne in the tower?"

"Shouldn't be a problem," Jenkins said as he mounted his horse, then rode off. "See ya tonight!"

That night, Zoe, Wash and Mal dined well with Jenkins, courtesy of the Sheriff's office, while meals were ferried out to Jayne in the bell tower, and to Kaylee and Inara in the ship. After eating, Jenkins and Wash headed to bed early, sleeping on cots in the office, while Mal and Zoe took up positions in the tower, all taking turns on watch while the others slept. At four in the morning, Wash joined them, as it was his turn at watch.

As dawn broke, Wash headed back to the tavern, while the others took up their various positions in the town, which slowly came to life as people came riding in to do their business,

Mal decided that after observation, his best option would be to take up a position in the storeroom above the general store, on the second floor, while Zoe positioned herself in an apartment above the bank. Mal could cover the bank, while Zoe could cover the store, which were across the street from each other. With Jayne at the church at the end of the street, the trio could cover the entire road. Jenkins had taken his rifle and a box of ammunition and stood in the doorway of the tavern, which was next door to the general store.

At twenty-two minutes after ten in the morning, Jayne's voice came over the comm, "Delivery truck coming up the main road. Everyone get ready."

The truck made its way up the dirt road , the few people in the street parting to make way for it as it parked in front of the general store. A man got out and pulled a ramp out of the back of it, climbing up and raising the roll-up door on the rear of the vehicle. After a few minutes he rolled a handtruck loaded with goods down the ramp and into the front of the store.

"I got dust on the horizon, Mal!" Jayne cried out into his transceiver. He paused. "Horses. Horses; a bunch of them, coming in fast from the north!"

"Jayne," Mal said, "kill any of the gang that try to get into the cab of that truck."

"Roger," said Jayne.

A few minutes later, the Adams Gang rode into town, shooting up the street as people screamed and took cover, many barreling past Jenkins and into the Tavern. Two members of the gang rode up to the bank and began to dismount, before Mal took one of them out with his rifle, and Jayne put a bullet through the head of the other.

The gang immediately jumped from their horses and began to scatter; one attempted to get into the cab of the truck, but Jayne shot him in the head before he could even get his hand on the door handle, and Zoe took out another as he fled for the store.

The rest took cover between the truck and the store; Jenkins leaned out from the Tavern and shot one in the back as the rest of the gang leaned out from behind the truck and began to shoot up the second story of the bank; Zoe took cover by dropping to the floor.

"I'm pinned down, sir," said Zoe over the comm, clearly irritated.

"I ain't got a shot, either," said Jayne.

"I got 'em," said Mal, who jumped out the open window; he didn't have a clear shot, either, but he had an idea. "Wash, tell Jenkins to take cover."

"You got it, Mal," Wash said over the transceiver.

Mal landed on the steel awning above the entrance to the general store, and dropped a pair of grenades, one by the front of the truck, and one by the rear. After a pair of loud bangs, the gunfire stopped. Mal leaped down onto the hood of the truck, then down to the boardwalk.

Most of the Adams Gang was dead, but one man still writhed on the ground, trying to get his pistol up. Half his face was burned and raw. "Who are you?" he asked Mal.

Mal's face was emotionless. "The last thing you'll ever see," he said, and put a bullet in his head.

 **O-O-O**

Fortunately, while the truck's passenger side tires were flattened by shrapnel from the grenades, and the front window of the general store was blown out, the damage to the truck and the building was minimal. As the local undertaker took charge of the bodies of the Adams Gang, Jenkins treated the crew of Serenity to lunch at the tavern, including Kaylee and Inara, who had been ferried to town by Wash.

"I'm told Fed help is about a week and a half away, and they'll help me keep the peace until the capital transfers a new Sheriff and a few new deputies out here," Deputy Jenkins said. "I want to thank you all for your help."

"It was our pleasure," said Mal. "Not to mention profitable."

Following the meal, the fighters of _Serenity_ turned in their badges and the entire crew went on their merry.

"Wash," said the Captain as he walked up the ramp of the ship, "take us out of the world."

 **(Author's Note: I don't know how many of these "mini-episodes" I have in me, but as long as I can keep coming up with them, I promise to sprinkle them through Deleted Scenes. I hope you enjoyed this little foray into the previously unwritten adventures of** ** _Serenity_** **and her crew.)**

 **(Next Time: The Underground Railroad - Mal has to decide what to do with half a dozen slaves who have stowed away on** ** _Serenity_** **before the Alliance catches up with them.)**


	20. The Underground Railroad

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 20: The Underground Railroad  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"We have over two-thousand workers, mostly indentured. We pay them next to nothing; that way we can pass the savings directly on to you, the customer."  
-Foreman, Episode 7 - "Jaynestown"**

"Wash, we're on. Take us out of the world," Mal said as he, Zoe, and Jayne made their way up the ramp and closed the airlock, the ship lifting off and causing a slight unsteadiness in the crew's footing as natural gravity from the planet Bellerophon conflicted with the grav thrust generated by the engine.

The trio made their way to the weapons locker; Mal opened it, and each of them deposited most of their weapons, except for Jayne, who held on to the Callahan he ordinarily kept in his bunk. When they were done, Mal sealed the locker as everyone made their way to the galley, except for Jayne, who stopped off at his bunk first.

"Weak tea," Mal said, sitting down as Zoe started a pot.

"You want some, sir? You want it weak?" Zoe asked.

"Yes, I would love a cup, but no, I don't want it weak," Mal replied as Jayne came back into the room. "I meant the job. The job was weak tea. So was the last job we took. We're almost down to nothing; we need a good job when we get to Persephone or we're in big trouble."

"How close are we to broke?" Zoe asked. Jayne sat down, interested in the conversation.

"You don't want to know," Mal said.

"Well, Badger's always good for a job," Zoe said. "If not him, then O'Reilly or MacGyver. Someone will have something for us."

"If we get a good job, then I think we should take on some passengers and head to Boros after we get paid," Mal said.

"I ain't never been to Boros," Jayne interjected.

"And I'm still trying to forget it," Zoe countered. "Why in the _tiang xiaode_ would make you want to go back there, sir?"

"I figured I'd see how the old place had changed," Mal said, "maybe take a trip out to Camp 37 and piss on the ashes of our imprisonment."

"Fair enough," said Zoe.

"In the meantime," said Mal, "I'm gonna grab a shower. See you all in thirty."

Mal descended into his bunk and grabbed the plastic basket that held his toiletries, as well as a fresh change of clothing, and headed aft, for the passenger dorms, where the showers were.

As he passed one of the rooms, he heard a "thunk" come from inside; drawing his pistol, he slid open the door to reveal six people, three men and three women, huddled inside.

Mal let out a cry of shock. "What the _diyu_ are you people doing on my boat?"

One of the men, a larger man in his 30s, rose up, still holding hands with one of the women. "We stowed away," he said. "We have money; we can pay you for transport to wherever you're going."

Mal was furious. "Then why didn't you sign on as passengers, instead of stowing away?"

The man stammered. "We-we-we're slaves. We escaped our master, Durrant Mayhew."

" _Taikong suoyou de xingqiu saijin wo de pigu!_ Do you know how much trouble we'll be in if we get boarded?" He marched out of the room and slapped the intercom in the common area. "This is the Captain. I need all personnel in the passenger dorms, _mashong._ "

Mal then returned to the room. "Come with me," he said, and the six followed him into the common area, where the crew was slowly congregating.

"We have passengers, Cap?" Kaylee asked.

"Who the hell are these people, sir?" Zoe asked.

When everyone including Inara was there, Mal announced, "People, we seem to have a half a dozen stowaways; runaway slaves."

"That explains it," Wash said. "Mal, there's a bulletin on the Cortex to stop us and search from stem to stern. No reason listed, but now I can guess why."

Jayne spoke up. "Tranportin' runaway slaves is five years on the penal moon, per slave. I say we space 'em and be on our way."

Inara was shocked. "That's murder, Jayne!"

Jayne was unfazed, "So? I ain't getting' lashed for thirty-five years over a buncha strays."

"How much money do you have?" Mal asked.

The leader handed over a red-tinted bill to Mal. "That's all we have."

"Five credits?" Mal exclaimed. "That wouldn't cover fare for one of you, let alone six. And it won't even cover the cost to keep you all fed!"

"Sir, if we turn around now, turn them in as stowaways, we might not be brought up on charges," Zoe said.

Inara was beside herself. "Mal, you have to help them. Do you know what their master will do to them?"

"He already beats us at least twice a week," the leader said. "We're all married couples; I'm Lester, and this is my wife Miri. Miri's pregnant, and our master has already decided to sell the child for adoption, so we had to flee. The money we gave you is all we could earn, beg, borrow, or steal for over two years."

Mal pressed his palm to his eyes. "Wash, go for hard burn and change course. Keep us out of the shipping lanes, but in range of the Cortex, though. We're gonna need to make some waves."

At dinner, Lester and Miri sat at the table with the crew while the others, Polly and Adam, Kerri and David all sat in the chairs off to the side, eating. Mal was alone with Wash on the bridge, trying to figure out a solution to their conundrum.

Kaylee came onto the bridge. "Cap, I have an idea," she said.

 **O-O-O**

Two days later, well outside the shipping lanes in the area, a larger transport, _The Angel of the Black_ , docked with _Serenity._ Mal opened the inner airlock door as a giant man with a bushy black beard entered through the forecouple. With a huge smile on his face, he gave Mal a bear hug and lifted him off the ground.

"Augh!" Mal cried out. "It's good to see you too, Monty!"

Monty put Mal down and looked at the eight other people assembled in the cargo bay; the six slaves, Kaylee, and Inara. "So I read your wave, obviously, or I wouldn't be here. What's this all about?"

"Got some escaped slaves stowed away," Mal said to Monty. "And we've got a warrant out to stop and search, so we're in a bit of a pickle. Need you to take a risk for us and get them to Pollux." He handed over fifty credits to Monty. "I'm afraid that's all we can afford for their fare, but if you get them there, I'd consider it no small favor."

Monty looked them over, a serious expression on his face. "Consider it done. But why Pollux?"

Kaylee spoke up. "My daddy's agreed to put them up until they can find work on one of the local ranches or something," she said.

Inara pressed a wad of bills into Lester's hands. "This is for all of you. It's a hundred credits, enough to keep you fed and get a fresh start, keep you afloat and pay back Mr. Frye until you get on your feet."

Miri began to cry a little, and Lester was almost speechless. In fact, all of the slaves looked as though they couldn't believe their luck. Each of them thanked Mal, Inara, and Kaylee, and hugged Monty for helping them before they all left.

When _Serenity's_ guests and Monty were gone, and _The Angel of the Black_ was underway again, Kaylee turned to Mal. "That was a real sweet thing you did, giving them all the money you had left. You are a good man, Captain."

Mal grumbled and headed up the stairs towards his bunk.

"And you, Inara, giving up that much money just so they could get started, that was real nice of you."

Inara smiled, softly. "Monty and your father are the ones that are really deserving of praise; they're both taking on a huge risk for a bunch of strangers."

 **O-O-O**

Sixteen hours later, with _Serenity_ back in the shipping lanes toward Persephone, the ship was stopped and ordered to heave to by the I.A.V. Dortmunder, an Alliance Cruiser. An armed party boarded and spent the next eight hours sweeping the ship, looking for the slaves.

"I'm telling you, Lieutenant," Mal said during the search, "there's no one on board but crew; I don't know who told you we had any escaped slaves on board, but their information was wrong."

"It does seem someone made a mistake on Bellerophon," the Lieutenant in charge of the search team finally admitted. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience at detaining you, Captain Harbatkin. Please consider yourself free to go; I'm giving you a written warning on the missing bow markings on your ship, however, rather than citing you for it, by way of apology. Make sure you get those painted on as soon as you get into a civilized port."

"Yes, sir," Mal said. "Thank you, sir. We're on our way to Persephone now, so it'll be handled soon. And know that _Serenity_ would never shelter known fugitives. Not ever. That's more trouble than I think any of us would care to risk."

And with that, the Alliance team left, decoupling from the ship and allowing _Serenity_ to go on her way.

 **O-O-O**

On Pollux, _The Angel of the Black_ settled in for a landing at the Ardmore docks in Bryn Mawr. It was pouring rain out, and a single delivery truck waited at the docks, pulling up to the cargo lift as it lowered, with seven people aboard. A single, older man got out of the truck and stepped through the rain to the lift.

Monty spoke first. "You must be Dennis Frye, Kaylee's daddy," he said.

"That I am," he said, shaking Monty's hand. "Can't tell you what a brave man you are, sir, taking a risk like this."

"You shoulda seen me in the Browncoats, Mr. Frye," Monty said. "And I could say the same thing to you."

"Aw, it's nothin'," Dennis said. "Slavin's coward's work. Every man and woman deserves a day's pay for a day's work. And speaking of work," he said, turning to the newly freed men and women, "I already lined up jobs for all of you except Miri. Miri can take it easy and help my wife around the house until she's too big to move around. Then we got a local Doc who's up to speed, keep things quiet about the parentage of the baby. It's all been handled."

Miri burst into tears and wrapped her arms around Dennis. "Thank you, sir. Thank you so much!"

Dennis blushed as Miri pulled away. "Now," he said. "Let's get you six on the truck and get you home, so you can get some dry clothes on and get ready for dinner."

"We're free," Lester said to his friends. "At last, we're all finally free."

 **(Author's Note: The subject of slavery, just like the nobility of the Firefly 'Verse, is a constant reminder of the caste system it embraces. It's pretty obvious that Mal has a disdain for slavery, so I took that and ran with it. They also don't explain how some people become slaves, although it is implied that indentured men and women get a lump sum payment, and work off their debt over the years, so, keeping this in mind, I tried to keep things vague. Beginning with the next chapter, the Age of Firefly will begin, as the last of the crew begins to assemble, and then we will not only see peripheral canon, but scenes that took place during and in between actual episodes. I hope that you have enjoyed the ride thusfar, and continue to do so to the end.)**

 **(Next Time: She Always Did Love To Dance - Simon breaks River out of the Academy, with the help of Shattered Moon.)**


	21. She Always Did Love To Dance

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 21: She Always Did Love To Dance  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"She's like nothing we've seen. All our subjects are conditioned for combat, but River – she's a creature of extraordinary grace."  
-Doctor Matthias – "Serenity" (Film)**

On Osiris, Doctor Simon Tam sat down with Quinn and Pembry again, in the heart of the Blackout Zone. Since their first meeting, his contacts had provided him with a fake ident card to ensure he wouldn't be arrested again. "Your message said it was urgent. What's going on?"

Quinn grimaced. "Our informant says that the security on River's been increased substantially, and the operative we sent in to get her into cryo was compromised when one of the children inadvertently ratted her out. We have to switch to Plan C."

Simon frowned. "And what exactly is Plan C?"

"We're not going to risk another operative; the one that was caught would surely have given up vital secrets about our organization had she not ingested the suicide pill she kept in her mouth. Instead, we're going to get you in there yourself, and help you personally get River out of the Academy. The only problem is that once you've completed the task, there's no going back for you; you won't be able to return to your cushy life here on Osiris, or anywhere else in the Core, nor will you be able to continue working as a Doctor. You and River will have to go on the run."

"I told you, I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to get her out of there," Simon said. "Where do you suggest we go?"

"Once you get her out," Quinn said, "We'll smuggle you on one of our ships to Persephone, near the border. From there you can take her wherever you like. Boros, Beaumonde, whatever you like, but your best bet is to stick to the Border Worlds, or out on the Rim, where Alliance control is spread thin. Less chance of you getting caught that way."

"What do I need to do?" Simon asked.

 **O-O-O**

Doctor Matthias rounded the corner, a lab coat draped over his arm as he made his way to the reception desk, where he saw a young man of average height and build waiting. The man carried a cane with a rounded silver top, had dark hair, and bore the face of a man who had seen considerable education. "Doctor Simmons, I was just informed of your inspection a few hours ago," he said, offering the coat to Simon Tam, or "Doctor Simmons", who proceeded to put it on. "A representative of the Alliance Parliament will of course have our full cooperation."

"Thank you," said Simon. "I've been reading the case files on your current batch of candidates, and I would like to observe River Tam first."

"Of course," said Doctor Matthias. "Come right this way. They're currently working with her in Lab 806."

Matthias led Simon to an elevator, and the pair descended before making their way to the lab. "A brief overview of what you do at this facility, if you wouldn't mind, Doctor Matthias," Simon said.

"Of course, sir. To put it simply, we take young men and women, beginning around age fourteen, and simultaneously begin a harsh regimen of physical defense training and surgical neurological enhancement to prepare them as psychic operatives – in this case, spies and assassins – for the Alliance Parliament's covert operations and military intelligence bureaus." He opened a door, and held it ajar for Simon to enter.

Once inside, Simon had to stifle a gasp. River sat in a chair, with a web of sensors around her head, ending in button-like probes across her face. As Doctor Matthias took over directing the session, a cylinder was attached to her forehead, and a technician – one of the two working with her – inserted a needle-like apparatus into the center of the cylinder and deep inside her skull.

Fortunately for Simon, River had her eyes closed, and appeared to be asleep. Suddenly, she screamed without opening her eyes.

"She's dreaming," one of the technicians said. "Got that?"

"Off the charts," said Doctor Matthias, reading a hand panel as the technician consulted a panel to the right of River's chair.

"Scary monsters," the technician said.

"Let's amp it up. Delcium, eight drops," said Matthias. He turned to Simon while River panted in terror. "See, most of our best work is done when they're asleep. We can monitor and direct their subconscious, implant suggestions. It's a little startling to see at first, but the results are spectacular."

Matthias paused, then added, "Especially in this case. River Tam is our star pupil."

"I've heard that," Simon said, suppressing his emotions and willing himself not to leap forward and attack the man.

"She'll be ideal for defense deployment," said Matthias, "even with the side effects."

"Tell me about them," Simon said. He'd need to gather as much information as he could in the little time he had to pull off this operation in order to treat River, to get her help once he had taken her out of this obscene place.

"Well, obviously, she's unstable. The neural stripping does tend to fragment their own reality matrix," Matthias said as the two technicians continued to go about their tasks, and River's chair moved and shifted along some strange algorithm. "It manifests itself as borderline schiz-"

"What use do we have for a psychic if she's insane?" Simon interrupted.

"She's not just a psychic," Matthias said, defensively. "Given the right trigger, this girl is a living weapon. She has her lucid periods; we're hoping to improve upon the…"

Matthias paused, then changed subjects. "I- I'm sorry, sir, but I have to ask: Is there a reason for this inspection?"

"Am I making you nervous?" Simon asked.

"Key members of Parliament have personally observed this subject," Matthias said. "I was told that the Alliance's support for this project was unanimous. The demonstration of her powers-"

"How is she physically?" Simon interrupted again.

"Like nothing we've seen," Matthias said, stepped behind Simon to a bank of equipment. He pointed to a readout of River's potentials, which showed that she had advanced off the end of the scale; they were in uncharted territory with her. "All our subjects are conditioned for combat, but River – she's a creature of extraordinary grace."

"Yes," Simon said. "She always did love to dance."

Matthias was confused, and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could get anything out, Simon crouched low, bringing the tip of his cane crashing to the floor, then pushed a button on the shaft. Suddenly, the round, spiked tip launched itself towards the ceiling, and detonated around the same height as the heads of the other people in the room. A shockwave – a high-energy pulse – spread out to the walls, and Matthias and the two technicians fell to the ground, unconscious.

Simon rushed to River's side, shaking her. "River," he said, "it's Simon."

With gloved hands, he pulled the needle-probe from her skull. "Please, it's Simon." He tore the web of sensors off of her head. "It's your brother."

He wiped a droplet of blood from where the probe had been, and smeared it across her forehead. River squirmed in the chair, but did not awaken. He rushed to the door, looking out the thin window to see if anyone had noticed the goings-on in the room. He started to pull off the lab coat, and turned back around, to find that River was suddenly standing inches from him; he froze in place.

"Simon," she said without emotion, as if she had just seen him moments ago, instead of two years in the past. After a long pause, she said, "They know you've come."

Simon dropped the coat and left the remainder of his cane forgotten on the floor, and ushered River into the hallway. "We can't get to the surface from the inside."

The sound of an elevator opening startled him. "Hide now," he said, and River began to climb up a pipe against the wall behind her, and spread her legs, wedging herself into the gap by the ceiling, one hand on a sprinkler head to keep her aloft, and one foot on each side of the narrow hallway.

Simon began walking away as two people who had exited the elevator passed him, and once they had rounded a corner, he rushed back, catching her in his arms as she dropped from the ceiling, then settling her to the ground.

They made their way back to the elevator shafts, and Simon pried open one of the doors, exposing a deep shaft leading even further down into the underground facility. He ushered River onto a ledge on the other side of the door, and then joined her, closing the door and using an extendible metal bar he had been given to lodge it shut.

He looked up at the sky at the top of the shaft, and was startled almost to the point of falling off the ledge as a pair of men fired their weapons into the glass between the gunmen and the siblings. The glass displayed a spider web of cracks, but did not break.

"A subject is loose," one of the men said into a hand-held radio as the other tried using a baton to break the glass. "Security breach, shaft seven."

Simon heard a noise from below, and saw a moiré pattern of security lasers deep in the shaft. As he watched, to his horror, another one appeared higher up the shaft, then another, each steadily getting closer to where he and River were standing. Meanwhile, one of the men on the other side of the glass continued to try and break the door down.

His detonation of the stun grenade was supposed to send a signal to the Shattered Moon airship that was supposed to get them out of here, but where the hell were they? He looked up again.

Suddenly, the ship appeared at the top of the shaft, opening its ventral bay and lowering a platform into the shaft. With the laser grids getting closer, and the glass beginning to give way, the platform arrived in front of them, and Simon ushered River onto it before joining her. Just as the lasers reached their height, the platform began to ascend, and within seconds they were aboard the airship, which headed directly for the northern mountains outside the city, and to safety.

Once the ship had landed, Simon was met by Quinn and Pembry as two technicians disrobed River and had her lie down in a fetal position in a cryo tank, then closed and activated it. "You kept your promise," said Simon.

"We keep our word, and you paid well enough for us to give it," said Quinn. "But we're not out of the woods, yet. We have to get you to the docks and off Osiris."

Quinn, Pembry, and Simon sat in a large hovervan as a driver ferried them to the southside docks, and before long they came to a stop in front of a small transport, _The Rising Tide_. Simon gathered his bags as a quartet of crewmen from the ship carried the cryo tank into the cargo bay. "From here we part ways. For good, I'm sad to say," said Quinn.

Simon shook the hands of both men. "Thank you. Both of you."

"Pembry smiled. "The crew of _The Rising Tide_ aren't contracted out for this job; they're all our men and women, and they'll see you to Persephone, make sure you're taken care of until you can arrange transport elsewhere."

"Again, thank you," Simon said, then climbed aboard the cargo bay, and the airlock closed behind him. Less than a minute later, the ship was airborne and headed out of atmo, on its way to Persephone, and for Simon and River Tam, toward whatever lay ahead for them.

 **(Author's Note: Most of the scene with Doctor Matthias, his technicians, and Simon and River Tam, as well as most of the escape attempt that followed it, are verbatim from the film "Serenity". I hope you have enjoyed the end of this particular arc, and hope you like the chapters to come even more. As always, please follow and favorite if you have enjoyed this story, as I publish a new chapter every single day, seven days a week, and PM me with questions, comments, or nit-picks, as I always love to hear from my readers.)**

 **(Next Time: A Complete Backbirth - A Federal officer named Lawrence Dobson follows the fugitive Simon Tam through the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone, and books passage on the same ship, a Firefly-class transport called** ** _Serenity._** **)**


	22. A Complete Backbirth

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 22: A Complete Backbirth  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"Get the hell away from that weapon! Do you think I'm a complete backbirth? You're carrying a fugitive across interplanetary borders. And you think I actually believe you're bringing medical supplies to Whitefall? As far as I care, everyone on this ship is culpable."  
-Federal Officer Lawrence Dobson – Episode 1: "Serenity"**

 **(The following takes place during the events of the pilot episode of Firefly, Episode 1, "Serenity", towards the beginning of the episode.)**

Federal Officer Lawrence Dobson wandered the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone as he did every day, patrolling with a pair of bags over his shoulder and a pistol tucked into the back of his pants, concealed by the shirt and sweater he wore, looking for wanted criminals that might be arriving on the planet or seeking escape aboard any of the various ships docked there. He turned a corner and made his way down another row of berths, his eyes casually scanning the crowd for familiar faces or people who looked out of place.

Halfway down the row, he spotted a man with dark hair, wearing a smart, expensive black suit and tie with a white shirt and a black vest. His appearance was extremely out of place for the cheaper docks on Persephone, and Dobson trotted forward, parallel to the man to get a look at his face.

Sure enough, it was a known fugitive, one Doctor Simon Tam, wanted for fleeing Osiris with an Alliance military intelligence asset, his sister, River Tam. The warrant had come in roughly a week ago, and there was a fifty-thousand credit bounty for Simon, and two-hundred-thousand credits for River, who was considered a precious, vital resource. Both were wanted alive at all costs.

Dobson looked carefully around, but saw no sign of River Tam. Keeping a safe distance, he tailed Simon, and watched as he checked the various Stat Posts in front of each ship as he went, each bore a touch screen indicating the type of ship, its next destination, and cost of passage, where applicable. Before long, he came upon a Firefly-class transport, and after Simon examined the Stat Post, he approached the barker, a young woman with shoulder-length light brown hair and a rainbow-swirled bamboo parasol that was missing some chunks out of it, who sat in a beach chair.

 **O-O-O**

Simon Tam approached the young woman sitting in front of the ramp leading into the ship's cargo bay, and extended his hand. "I'm Doctor Tam," Simon said. "I'm interested in booking passage to Boros."

"Kaylee," she said, taking his hand and shaking it. "This is Serenity, and she's the smoothest ride from here to Boros for anyone who can pay the fare. Half's due up front, half upon arrival."

Simon reached into his pocket and drew out a wad of bills, counting out a few and handing them over; he already knew the fare from the screen on the Stat Post. "When do you leave?" he asked.

"We expect to be out of atmo in two or three hours, sir," she said.

"Good," Simon said. "I have a piece of oversized cargo that's coming with me. I need to have it brought from another ship, _The Rising Tide_ , berth 28-G."

"We can have it brought over, as long as it isn't too big," Kaylee said.

"It's approximately four feet on a side, maybe a hundred and fifty to two hundred pounds."

"That's going to be extra," she said, "but not too much." She pulled out a comm and pushed a button on it. "Wash, can you hitch the trailer to the Mule and bring it out here, got a pickup at berth 28-G."

Several minutes later, a man with blonde hair came riding out of the cargo bay on an offroader with a smallish flat trailer bed hitched behind it. "Just tell them you're picking up a package for Doctor Simon Tam," Simon said to Wash, then deposited his bags inside the cargo bay before returning to the ramp to wait for his cargo.

 **O-O-O**

Dobson pulled his Cortex transmitter out of his bag and punched in a message that Simon Tam had apparently booked passage on an unidentified Firefly-class transport, and he was going to sign on as a passenger as well, in the hopes that River Tam would join them. He tucked the device back into his bag and stepped up to Kaylee; after a brief discussion, he handed over half his fare, then followed Simon up into the cargo bay to deposit his bags.

An hour later, as Dobson watched from near the Stat Post, the blonde man pulled up with a large cryo container on the trailer of the offroader, and drove it inside; Dobson walked up toward the ramp again to get a better look at the cryo container.

Kaylee, now standing on the ramp opposite Simon Tam, smiled at him. "Welcome aboard, Mister…?"

"Dobson," the Officer said as he walked past them both.

"Dobson," Kaylee said with a nod.

 **O-O-O**

Once _Serenity_ was airborne, the Captain and first officer, a dark-skinned woman named Zoe, gathered all the passengers in the kitchen, which Dobson noted included a dark-skinned Shepherd. After introductions were made, the Captain laid down some ground rules.

"Meals are taken up here in the dining area," he began. "Kitchen's pretty much self explanatory; you're welcome to eat what there is anytime. What there is is pretty standard fare, I guess: protein in all the colors of the rainbow. We do have sit-down meals, next one being at about 1800."

Kaylee, the ship's mechanic, gestured to the Shepherd. "I believe Shepherd Book has offered to help me prepare something."

"You're a Shepherd?" the Captain asked.

"Thought the outfit gave it away," Shepherd Book said, referring to his grey tunic with a wraparound collar, the mark of the clergy. "Is it a problem?"

"Of course not!" Kaylee said quickly. "It's not a problem 'cause… it's not."

"No," Captain Reynolds said. "As I said, you're welcome to visit the dining area anytime. Apart from that, I have to ask you to stay in the passenger dorm while we're in the air. The bridge, engine room, cargo bay, they're all off-limits without an escort."

"Some of my personal effects are in the cargo bay," said Doctor Tam.

Mal held up a hand. "I figure you all got luggage you're going to need to get into. Soon as we're done here, we'll be happy to fetch 'em with you. Now, I have to tell you one other thing, and I apologize in advance for the inconvenience: unfortunately, we've been ordered by the Alliance to drop some medical supplies off on Whitefall. It's the fourth moon on Athens. It's a little out of our way, but we should have you on Boros no more than a day off schedule."

 _That cinches it,_ thought Dobson. _Serenity's_ crew was obviously inventing a cover story for Simon Tam and his cargo, which obviously contained his sister River in cryo, to get off on Whitefall.

"What medical supplies?" asked Simon.

"I honestly didn't ask," said the Captain.

Zoe spoke up. "Probably plasma, insulin, whatever they don't got enough of on the Border Moons."

"Alliance says 'jump'," Captain Reynolds began.

"Alright," said Simon.

They were obviously making a good show of it, Dobson thought as he took in all the information.

"Zoe, you want to take them to the cargo bay?" asked the Captain.

"Yes, sir," Zoe responded.

Captain Reynolds headed out of the room. "Anything else you need," he said, "just ask. We, uh, live to serve."

And with that, the passengers all filed out of the room and down into the cargo bay with Zoe. Dobson picked up his two black bags from next to the cryo container and carried them aft, towards the common area on the lower deck, next to the passenger dorm, nearly tripping as he passed through the bulkhead.

Dobson took the dorm room furthest aft, on the right, and left his door open. With only three of the eight rooms needed, and the other two passengers carrying much more luggage than they could unpack in their dorms, he noted that they opted to collect most of their luggage in one of the disused dorm rooms. No one took any of the rooms up on top of the ladders; everyone opted to stay on the lower tier. Dobson opened up one of his bags and took out his Cortex Transceiver, pairing it to the ship's Cortex router, and checked the sector ahead. Later, after dinner, they'd be passing an Alliance I.A.V. cruiser, and he'd make contact then, after which he'd take Simon Tam and his "cargo" into custody. No fuss.

 **O-O-O**

That night, at dinner, Dobson was treated to a meal of fresh vegetables including sliced, marinated tomatoes and mashed potatoes with fresh garlic; the real thing, not a powdered mix reconstituted. He delighted in the prospect; this particular case had its perks, he noted.

"Oh, I'm starved," said the Captain as he served himself.

Zoe, standing, took several tomato slices and placed them on her plate. "This is incredible," she said, turning briefly to Shepherd Book.

"It _is_ great," said Captain Reynolds.

"It's not much," said Book. "I had a garden at the Abby, thought I should bring what I could."

Simon took a sip of his drink. "It's kind of you to share with all of us."

"Well, it won't last-" Book said.

"I'm taking this to Wash," said Zoe, making off with a plate and heading towards the Bridge.

"-And they're not the same when they're frozen," Book concluded.

"Pass the tomatoes?" Dobson asked.

"The important thing is the spices," Book said. "A man can live off packaged food from here 'till Judgement Day if he's got enough rosemary. Captain, do you mind if I say grace?"

Mal took another bite of potatoes. "Only if you say it out loud."

Several people at the table, Dobson included, looked around uncomfortably before they clasped their hands together and bowed their heads in prayer. After several seconds, everyone looked up and began to dig in to their meals.

"So does it happen a lot?" Simon asked. "Government commandeering your ship? Telling you where to go?"

"That's what governments are for," Captain Reynolds said. "Get in man's way."

Dobson stifled a laugh; they were going all out on this medical supplies story. "Well, it's good if the supplies are needed," he said.

"We're just happy to be doin' good works," set a burly looking crewman.

"I hear a lot of the Border Moons are in bad shape," said Dobson, playing along. "Plagues and famine."

Zoe spoke up. "Well, some of that's exaggerated, and some of it ain't. All those moons, just like the central planets, they're as close to Earth-That-Was as we can make 'em: gravity, atmosphere and such, but…"

The Captain broke in. "Once they're terraformed, they'll dump settlers on there with nothing but blankets, hatchets, maybe a herd. Some of 'em will make it. Some of 'em…"

"Then I guess it's good we're helping," Simon said.

Dobson stifled another laugh.

 **O-O-O**

Later that night, Dobson checked the sector scan and figured the Alliance cruiser was no less than a half an hour out from _Serenity._ He logged a message requesting prisoner transport and the ship's current coordinates, and sent the message. His next message was about the name and classification of the ship, but he found that his Cortex link was disabled. Cursing, he dropped the communication device onto his bed and pulled out his semiautomatic pistol, then made his way out his dorm and into Simon's, which was empty. He then went into the dining area, which was also empty, before heading for the stairs down into the cargo bay.

While on the catwalk, he saw Captain Reynolds walk up to Simon, who was tending the cryo unit, and ask, "Forget your toothpaste?" before sending him sprawling to the ground with a fist to the jaw.

"Are you out of your _mind?"_ Simon exclaimed.

"Just about," Reynolds said, shaking his hand and flexing the pain out of his fingers. "What'd you tell them?"

"Tell who?" Simon asked, slowly getting to his feet.

Reynolds pulled out his pistol and aimed it at Simon as Dobson slowly made his way down the stairs. "I got exactly no time for games. What do they know?"

"Simon rubbed the left side of his face with his palm. "You're a lunatic."

Reynolds cocked the pistol. "And you're a _gorram_ Fed."

"Hate to say it, Captain," said Book, "but you've got the wrong man."

Reynolds, who had turned to face Book, with his pistol still aimed at Simon, turned slowly back towards Dobson, who was still halfway down the staircase, his pistol aimed at the Captain.

"Son of a bitch," Reynolds said.

"Drop that firearm, Captain Reynolds," Dobson ordered.

Reynolds did as he was told, chuckling. "This is not my best day ever," he said, raising his hands above his shoulders.

"Simon Tam," Dobson said descending almost all the way down the stairs, "you are bound by law to stand down."

Reynolds seemed stunned as Simon raised his hands. "What?" he asked. "The Doctor. Oh! Hey, is there a reward?" He put his hands down.

"Get on the ground," Dobson said. When Simon didn't move, Dobson yelled, "Get on the ground!"

"Lawman," Simon said, "you are making a mistake."

Reynolds turned toward Simon. "You best get on the ground, son. The man seems a mite twitchy."

Shepherd Book started to make his way over to the trio. "I think everybody could stand to calm down a bit."

"This isn't your business, Shepherd," Dobson said, his eyes and weapon still trained on Simon Tam.

"The boy's not going anywhere, Lawman," Book said, still approaching the group, "as I understand it, it's pretty cold outside."

"Not to worry," said Reynolds, bending over to pick up his pistol, "put Lord Fauntleroy in one of the passenger cells. He won't make a peep-"

"Get the hell away from that weapon!" exclaimed Dobson, and Reynolds quickly stood back up. "Do you think I'm a complete backbirth? You're carrying a fugitive across interplanetary borders, and you think I actually believe you're bringing medical supplies to Whitefall? As far as I care, everyone on this ship is culpable."

"Well, now," Reynolds said. "That has an effect on the landscape."

"Please," Book said, now clustered with the other men, "we're very close to true stupidity here."

"I got a cruiser on route for intercept. So talk all you want; you got about twenty minutes," Dobson said.

"You might have even less than that," Reynolds replied.

"Yeah," Dobson said, aiming his pistol at Captain Reynolds. "Threaten me."

"For God's sake!" Book exclaimed.

"You think I wouldn't shoot a Shepherd?" Dobson exclaimed. "Back off!"

"Take the kid!" Reynolds put his hands on Simon, trying to force him to the ground.

"Get your hands off!" shouted Simon.

"Stand the hell down!" yelled Dobson.

"Stop it! Stop it!" cried Book.

"What is…?" came a voice from behind Dobson, a woman's voice.

Without thinking, he turned and fired, shooting Kaylee in the stomach as she came through the bulkhead with Zoe. The young woman looked down at the hole in her body, said, "Wha?" and then slid to the ground.

"Kaylee!" shouted another woman's voice from above.

Reynolds released Simon and started to run for Kaylee, picking up his pistol as he went.

And suddenly Shepherd Book rushed forward, his fingers wrapping around Dobson's gun hand as the Shepherd wound his other arm back.

Dobson saw a fist coming his way, and felt a sharp pain in his jaw before everything went black.

 **(Author's Note: Several of these scenes are recreations or re-envisionings of scenes from the pilot episode of Firefly (Episode 1, "Serenity). I do not intend to retell the entire series, but felt a nod to the pilot, and the convergence of the last of the characters was important for this story to be told properly.)**

 **(Next Time: A Crisis Of Faith - Following the events of the pilot episode, "Serenity", Shepherd Derrial Book wrestles with his faith and his ethics as he struggles to come to terms with the actions and motivations of the crew, as well as whether or not he should remain aboard.)**


	23. A Crisis of Faith

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 23: A Crisis Of Faith  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"I think I'm on the wrong ship."  
-Shepherd Derrial Book – Episode 1: "Serenity"**

 **(The following takes place at the end of – and after – the events of the pilot episode of Firefly Episode 1, "Serenity".)**

Shepherd book sat on the sofa in Inara's shuttle as she applied a damp cloth to the cut on his forehead, at the crest of a large, purpling welt. "You should really have the young Doctor look at this," she said.

"It's not so bad," Book replied.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be fine," Inara said, her voice soothing.

"I didn't say that," Book said, looking down. He paused for a long moment, then looked up into Inara's eyes. "Is this what life is… out here?"

Inara nodded. "Sometimes."

"I've been out of the abbey two days," Book said, "I've beaten a Lawman senseless. Fallen in with criminals. I've watched the Captain shoot the man I swore to protect."

He looked away, then back at the Companion again. "I'm not even sure if I think he was wrong."

Inara knelt in front of him. "Shepherd…"

"I believe I just—" he looked down at his feet again, then back up once more. "I think I'm on the wrong ship." He appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"Maybe," said Inara, standing once more. "Or maybe you're exactly where you ought to be."

Book's face fell again as tears began to fall. Inara reached out tenderly and caressed the side of his face.

 **O-O-O**

Later, in his dorm, Book read from his beloved Bible, looking for guidance, then placed a bookmark between the pages and closed the book before setting in on the nightstand. He reached into its drawer and pulled out a voice recorder, then hit the record button and raised it towards his mouth.

"We're still three days out from Boros, and I have a decision to make; I need to sort out all these thoughts in my head before we get there."

He sighed, then continued. "After the Lawman shot Kaylee, the young Doctor saved her life, but only after leveraging her survival to get the Captain to change course and go on the run. Fortunately for all of us, myself included, Dobson's signal was scrambled before he was able to identify the ship to the Alliance.

"I quickly discovered that _Serenity_ is a smuggling ship, filled with career criminals and former Independent soldiers turned to the wrong side of the law following the war. Once the surgery was over, the Captain opened the cryo container in the cargo bay, and Simon Tam's sister River came spilling out, nude and screaming. She had been experimented on and abused by the Alliance at a place Simon called "The Academy", and he had given up his entire life and his future to get her out of that place.

"While on our way to Whitefall, we passed a Reaver ship. I have to admit that death at the hands of the Reavers sounds like my idea of a prelude to hell, being raped to death and eaten alive, my only remembrance the swatches of my skin they sew into their clothing. But the Reavers didn't attempt to board us, and we made our way to Whitefall without further incident.

"Several on the crew were in favor of killing the Lawman, and even spacing Simon and his sister River if Kaylee didn't pull through, and I voiced my objection to both, stating that I would not stand idly by while there was killing going on aboard. The motion was tabled for the time being, and when we set down on Whitefall, the Captain, Zoe, and Jayne left the ship to make a deal.

"While they were gone, I went to warn the Lawman that his life was in danger, and to offer to help him, but he had freed himself somehow, and when I opened the door to his dorm, he struck me in the head repeatedly with a small fire extinguisher, and knocked me out. Meanwhile, as he took River into custody and ended up in a standoff at gunpoint with Simon, each armed with a pistol, the others came rushing back to the ship on horseback, because the Reaver ship had apparently followed us, and were entering atmo.

"The sound of gunfire roused me, and I made my way to the bulkhead to the cargo bay just in time to see Dobson holding a gun to River's head; as the Captain came striding up the ramp and into the ship, and as I watched, he put a bullet in the Lawman's head, then he and Jayne dumped the body off the ship as Zoe closed the airlock.

"In the end, Jayne and I helped Kaylee in the engine room while the Companion Inara – a lovely and compassionate woman if ever there was one – along with Simon and River, waited in Inara's shuttle, ready to flee the ship in the event the Reavers boarded us. Jayne and I reconfigured one of the thrusters to aim forward, causing us to spin around and then Wash blasted us into full burn in atmo, the blowback tossing the Reaver ship and sending us into orbit before they could give chase. It was a narrow escape, but an escape nonetheless.

"Now we're back on course to Boros, and I have to figure out what I'm going to do. I've fallen in with criminals and killers. I'm no stranger to that; I was a career criminal before I became a spy for the Independents, and I murdered without remorse before and after; I spent years torturing people to death, people that were my allies in the war, extracting information before putting them down, just so I could rise through the Alliance ranks and gain access to classified information for the Independent war effort.

"Despite being a criminal, the Captain is a man of honor. He is a Godless heathen, but a man of honor nonetheless. Much more so than I ever was when I was a career criminal. That says something about his character, especially when it comes to his Simon and River.

"Ah, those two… And then there's Simon and River. What was done to that young girl by the Alliance Parliament is the embodiment of everything I stood against when I was a mole inside the Alliance military. Someone needs to help protect them and watch out for them. I feel that by staying, I could do a lot of good on their behalf. The Captain has offered Simon a job on his crew as the ship's Doctor in exchange for his and his sister's fare, and has sworn to keep their presence a secret. Giving up a quarter million credits in bounties to house and shelter two known fugitives… it takes a unique individual to give up a life of luxury and ease just because he hates the Alliance. Does that make him worthy of my loyalty and support?

"Zoe, Wash, and Kaylee are good people, too. Zoe is a soldier, through and through, a soldier without an army. Wash is consistently funny and kind hearted, but his heart is nowhere near as big as Kaylee's; Kaylee is bubbling with optimism, a true dichotomy on this criminal ship.

"Finally, there's Jayne Cobb. We smile and joke, even lift weights together, but I feel that he's everything that's wrong with the 'Verse. He seems to be almost without any redeeming qualities. If I stay, I'll have to keep a close eye on him.

"My duty, from one perspective, is to report the illegal activities on _Serenity_ and the whereabouts of the Tams to the Alliance. It says in Romans 13: _'Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.'_

"But there's another passage in Romans… Let me find it." He put down the recorder and picked up his Bible, flipping through pages until he found the page he was looking for, then picked up the recorder again. "Here we are, Romans 12, verses 9 through 13: _'Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.'_

"The crew of _Serenity_ are outlaws. Simon and River are fugitives. In a subjective sense, and in keeping with God's admonition to show deference to authority, that makes them evil, by the textbook definition. But are they truly evil? Based on my experience in the war, the Alliance is the true evil in this equation. Helping Malcolm Reynolds and Simon and River Tam means hurting the Alliance, abhorring the real evil, and showing honor to men of honor, to men who will reciprocate and trade loyalty for loyalty."

He paused for a long moment. "I need to pray about this now," then he turned off the recorder and slid off the bed and onto his knees.

Kneeling before his bed, he prayed silently for over an hour, seeking inspiration from that still, small voice inside his mind that would offer him guidance, but nothing came.

When it was time, he got up from the floor and went to dinner, and all nine of them sat together for the first time. The laughter came freely and easily, and Book found himself warming to these people in spite of himself, and in spite of the events of the previous two days. He turned to Inara at one point, and she smiled warmly at him.

He smiled back, and in that moment, he knew what he had to do.

Returning to his room after dinner, Book lay down once more in his bed, Bible at his side, and his recorder in his hand. He pushed a button on it and began to speak again.

"Proverbs 6 says that, _'There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.'_

"I find none of those things here, except perhaps in Jayne. Inara was right; I may be on the wrong ship, but I am exactly where I ought to be. I will stay on _Serenity_ after she makes planetfall on Boros, and I will spread the word of the Gospel wherever we go. I will be among these people, and helpful to them, and will live my life as a shining example to them. This is my new mission, traveling with my new family."

And with that, he turned off the recorder, closed his eyes, and swiftly fell asleep, finally at peace for the first time in days.

 **(Author's Note: The first scene in this ficlet, the one with Book and Inara in her shuttle, is verbatim from the end of Episode 1, "Serenity". Given the content of that scene, it made sense to me that Book would go through a period of soul searching prior to reaching Boros before finally deciding to stay aboard** ** _Serenity._** **I hope you don't mind all the Bible verses. *smile*)**

 **(Next Time: Doc Fixed Me Up Pretty - As Kaylee meets with Simon to have the stitches removed from the bullet wound to her stomach, Simon apologizes to her, and the pair get to know each other better.)**


	24. Doc Fixed Me Up Pretty

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 24: Doc Fixed Me Up Pretty  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"Don't go working too hard on that crush,** ** _xiaomeimei._** **Doc won't be with us for long."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – Episode 1: "Serenity"**

 **(The following takes place in between Episode 1, "Serenity", and Episode 2, "The Train Job".)**

Kaylee stood before the mirror over the combination sink and toilet in her bunk and pulled up her shirt, looking at her belly. An ugly knot of reddish scar tissue marred her flat stomach, about the size of a K-19 Windsor bolt head, with a dozen small black threads sticking out of it. With a sigh, she checked the time, then lowered her shirt and turned for her ladder, ascending to the deck above.

It had been nearly two weeks since she'd been shot, and as she climbed, she felt slight twinges of pain in her abdomen. She had been restitched following her foray into the engine room during the Reavers' pursuit, and then spent an additional three days in the infirmary before Doctor Tam had declared it safe for her to climb down the ladder into her own bunk.

Once on the deck, she headed aft, and took a left before she reached her beloved engine room, climbing down the stairs into the common area instead, and from there, she walked the short distance into the infirmary.

Doctor Tam was already there, waiting for her.

"Morning, Kaylee. Take a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair in the center of the room.

She sat, and scooted back until she was seated firmly in the chair. Without a word, Doctor Tam raised her shirt and began probing her belly. "Still some pain?" he asked.

"Yes, Doctor," Kaylee said. "Hurts to the touch, and when I climb my ladder. If I stay still, it doesn't hurt."

"Let me do another scan," the Doctor said, reaching for a wireless device charging in a wall panel beneath a round video screen. He pressed it against her stomach and pushed a button, moving it around and watching the images on the screen behind her.

"Good," he said. "Very good. You're healing nicely."

"Will the scar get any better, Doctor?" Kaylee asked.

Not looking away from the screen, he answered. "The color will eventually fade from red to match the color of the skin around it, and the swelling might go down some, but I'm afraid that the scar is going to pretty much stay the way it is now."

Kaylee bit her lip. Simon returned the device to the wall charger, then turned back to the chair, noticing the look on her face. "Don't be too upset about it. It's very small; if Dobson had been using hollowpoints, and there was an exit wound, you'd have a scar the size of a softball on your back, and probably have lost a kidney in the process. You got very lucky."

"Okay," Kaylee said, not particularly mollified.

Doctor Tam stepped to the side of the room and began to search through one of the drawers before returning with a pair of shears and a forceps. "I wanted to tell you something, Kaylee. It's been on my mind for a while," he said.

"What's that?" she asked as the doctor snipped one of the knots in the stitching and pulled the thread out with the forceps, placing it on a piece of blue surgical paper on the rolling tray next to the chair.

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked Kaylee in the face. "I wanted to say that I wouldn't have let you die."

"I know," she said. "You were just trying to protect your sister."

Doctor Tam nodded and snipped another knot. "That's part of it, but there's more to it," he said as he worked, pulling out another stitch.

"More?" Kaylee asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said as he continued pulling out the stitches one by one. "If I hadn't forced the Captain to change course, you'd be dead now either way."

Kaylee frowned, looking up at the Doctor. "How's that?"

The Doctor pulled out the last stitch and placed it with the others. "If we had been boarded by that Alliance cruiser, they would have pulled me out of the infirmary, no matter what I was doing. I would have tried to save you in the time I had left, but you had six pieces of shrapnel in your abdomen from the bullet breaking up. They wouldn't have cared that I was trying to save your life; they would have arrested me on the spot and dragged me off the ship, leaving you to die on the table."

"So by refusing to help, you were actually trying to save my life?" Kaylee asked with a grin.

Doctor Tam smiled. "I suppose so, in a crazy, mixed-up sort of way, yes." He held a hand mirror over her stomach, and Kaylee adjusted it so that she could see the scar. All the black threads, with their tiny knots, were gone. She was just her again, scars and all.

"I've never been shot," Doctor Tam said. "And despite treating dozens of gunshot wounds, I've never asked this question before: what's it like?"

Kaylee was thoughtful, thinking back over the experience for a few seconds. "It's like getting punched in the stomach, really, really hard. And there's a burning sensation. Doesn't hurt as much as you'd expect it to. I got shoved back, and wouldn't have known I was shot at all if I hadn't looked down and seen the hole."

"I see," the Doctor said. "Well, I hope I never have to find out myself, although, being on this crew, you never know. In any case, you're done. Come up with me for breakfast?"

Kaylee grinned again. "I'd love to," she said. "Thank you, Doctor."

"Simon," he said. "Just call me Simon."

"Okay… Simon. That'll take some getting used to," she said.

 **O-O-O**

At the breakfast table, Simon and Kaylee joined the rest of the gang, and Simon noticed that River was already seated, and was industriously bending the tines of her fork in opposite directions.

"River, don't ruin the silverware," Simon admonished.

"It's the Pax," said River, beginning to bend the tines back into position. "Peace, in the Latin."

"What's Latin for 'bughouse crazy'?" asked Jayne, rolling his eyes.

"Jayne Cobb," answered River, digging into her plate of powdered eggs, despite her cockeyed fork.

Kaylee stifled a laugh.

"Engine's been sabotaged by the angry man while you're asleep," River mused as she ate. "Fire. Lots of fire."

Jayne turned to Simon. "Will you shut her the hell up?" he asked.

 **O-O-O**

That evening, still two days out from Newhall, Kaylee stood in the mirror again and pulled up her shirt once more, examining her scar. She pulled out a pen and drew a small smiley face on it, laughing to herself, and then lowered her shirt once more. She decided that she would make a game out of it, and keep a face drawn on that spot, always. Smiling, she climbed into bed and thought of the Doctor – Simon – and envisioned him wrapping his strong arms around her and running his smooth, soft surgeon's hands over her supple skin, kissing his way down her chest to her belly, then kissing the face upon her scar. She laughed again, a big smile on her face, and rolled over onto her side.

Meanwhile, in her dorm, River sat, drawing a picture of a woman with a smile on her belly. The tendrils of her thoughts reached out and touched Kaylee's imaginings; she saw images of her brother and Kaylee locked in a passionate embrace. She blushed furiously and tried to put the thoughts out of her mind.

 **O-O-O**

On the Skyplex orbiting Ezra, Viktor came into Adelai Niska's office. "I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Niska," he said. " _The Valiant_ is still down with engine trouble. We're going to miss our window on the train job on Regina in the Georgia System."

Niska was calm, but beneath that calm was a deep-seated rage. "It's been a week. Hire a new mechanic and bring me the old one when _The Valiant_ gets back into port. In the meantime, line up another ship for the job."

"Yes, sir," said Viktor, and left.

Niska turned back to Crow, and nodded his head. The henchman resumed cutting into the stomach of the man hanging upside down from the ceiling.

Niska planned to take at least a full day with this one.

 **O-O-O**

On Paquin, aboard _The Valiant_ , two armed men entered the engine room and aimed their weapons at Bester, who had the engine half-disassembled as he desperately tried to find the problem with the core.

"Come with us," one of the men said, as a third stepped into the room.

" _Yeshu,_ what a _gorram_ mess!" exclaimed the third man, and set about his work on the engine.

Bester was marched down to the cargo bay at gunpoint, whereupon he was thrown into the smuggler's hold and locked in. He sat, and realizing that his days in this 'Verse were now numbered, began to cry. He had done his best for Niska, but he had failed.

The rest was just academic.

 **(Author's Note: Let the romance begin! I know there are a lot of Kaylee/Simon shippers out there, but I don't know how much of an opportunity I'll have to explore that particular ship in Deleted Scenes. If I can throw in more, I will, but don't hold your breath for it. I'll also try to come up with some River chapters, for you River Tam/Summer Glau fans out there. And to all my readers, sorry this chapter is so much shorter than the average; it just seemed to come to a natural end, and I didn't feel like padding it out for another 400 words or so.)**

 **(Next Time: A Coward And A Piss-Pot - Zoe and Mal take Jayne out for free drinks as they prepare to engage in a years-old U-Day tradition, and reflect on their U-Day tradition in the past.)**


	25. A Coward And A Piss-Pot

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 25: A Coward And A Piss-Pot  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"I got words. I'm saying… This is an 'ass-picious' day."  
-Lund - Episode 2, "The Train Job"**

 **(The following ficlet is set at the beginning of Episode 2, "The Train Job".)**

 **(July 3rd, 2517)**

 _Serenity_ had been on Santho for two days, and on this day of all days, Mal was tense as he sat in the galley, cleaning his pistol. Zoe entered the room with her jacket on. "It's time, sir," she said.

Mal finished what he was doing and holstered his revolver. "Jayne coming?" he asked.

"I ain't asked him yet," she said. "But I've never known him to turn down a free drink. He'll come."

"Good," said Mal. "I have a feeling we're gonna need him."

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2513)**

Mal, Zoe, and Monty, who by sheer luck was in town on Boros today, stepped confidently into the bar, each wearing a long, brown coat. They stepped up to the bartender, who sneered at them.

"We don't serve no _gorram_ Browncoats in here, especially today," he growled.

Monty spoke up. "Law says you can't discriminate. You serve us, or we'll call the Feds on you."

"Ironic," the bartender said, "buncha rutting Browncoats runnin' to the Alliance for help. What the _diyu_ do you want?"

" _Qing zailai yi bei Ng Ka Pei?_ " Mal asked, and the bartender pulled out a bottle.

He poured a cup of the medicinal herb wine Mal had ordered and proceeded to spit in it before setting it on the bar in front of him. "That's a tenth of a credit or a quarter platinum," he smirked. "Plus tip."

"Here's your tip," Mal said, picking up the cup and throwing its contents into the bartender's face, causing his to gasp and sputter. Behind them, there was a sound of wooden chairs being pushed back on the hardwood floor.

Mal turned. "Monty, you ready for this?"

"Sure as hell am," Monty said, readying his fists as Zoe pulled out a steel baton. Six men rushed them all at once.

The battle was no less epic for its brevity. The previous year's war had been longer and bloodier, but with Monty on their side, the Browncoats were able to knock out more teeth, break more noses, and send more people sprawing to the floor. Monty could lay a man out with a single punch to the face, and he did, repeatedly.

In all, over a dozen men lay splayed out on the ground, and the rest of the patrons in the bar were either too shocked or too scared to raise a hand against the trio. The bartender reached behind the bar for a shotgun, but Mal had his pistol in the man's face, cocked and ready before he could swing it around.

"I'll take that," Mal said. The bartender handed it over, stock first.

"Thanks for the donation," Mal smirked. "Or would it be better to call it a tip, in this case?"

The bartender scowled at Mal, but said nothing.

All three spat upon the men on the floor for good measure before heading out the door.

As they walked down the street, Mal toting the shotgun over his shoulder, Monty said, "You were absolutely right, Mal. That was _fun!_ Almost makes up for the food in Camp 37."

"We do this every year," Mal said. "Or we're gonna, at any rate."

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2517)**

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne walked down the ramp and into the desert, Kaylee closing the airlock behind them. They quickly got on the road and headed toward town, which was several miles away.

"I appreciate the free booze," Jayne said, "but what's the occasion? It ain't my birthday."

"You'll find out," Zoe said.

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2514)**

"Where the hell is Tracy?" Mal demanded as two bar patrons pinned him to the wall, one of them clubbing him in the jaw. Zoe was busy with two of her own as she brought her baton up before bringing it crashing down on one of the men, sending him unconscious to the floor.

"I don't see him," Zoe called back.

Suddenly, Mal could see the legs of a chair, which shattered against the backs of one of the men holding him, who went down, writhing on the ground. It was Tracy Smith who had swung it, and then grabbed a bottle from the bar and smashed it on the other man's head.

More men were approaching from the back. "Time for us to go!" Mal exclaimed, and the trio beat a hasty retreat out the door, running down the street in New Jakarta as a pair of men gave chase for a half a block before giving up, much like they had two years ago.

Zoe, Mal, and Tracy walked nearly a quarter of the way across town until they came to a Browncoat-friendly bar, and ducked inside, Mal ordering a round of drinks.

Tracy raised his glass. "To the Browncoats!" he exclaimed. A cheer went up from the bar. The three clinked their glasses together.

"You know," Tracey said, "I bet if we came here first, we could get half the people in this place to come with us next year."

Mal looked at Zoe. "That's actually not a bad idea," he said.

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2517)**

The place was supposed to be an Alliance-friendly bar, but no one batted an eye at Mal's coat when he, Zoe, and Jayne ordered their drinks and proceeded to sit down at a table in the back.

"Anyone want to play?" Mal asked, referring to the game board in the center of the table.

"I'm in," Jayne said.

"Me, too," replied Zoe.

"But why are we here?" Jayne asked.

"Just wait for it," Zoe said.

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2515)**

This time, Zoe, Mal, and Tracy were joined by half a dozen former Browncoats at they stepped into the bar.

"What the hell do we have here?" asked a patron, as he and the other three at his table got to their feet.

"It's an Independent insurgency!" declared one of the throng of Browncoats.

A bunch of other people joined the four staring them down, and both groups rushed each other at once. It was never clear, in the stories told in the years to come, who threw the first punch, but what was clear was the victor, as the nine former soldiers beat the living _go-se_ out of everyone in the establishment, leaving several dozen men lying bleeding and moaning on the floor, as they were armed with bats, batons, and knives, with their pistols only on hand in case someone pulled on them.

Later, back at the Browncoats bar, Mal bought the first round, and the other men declared that this would become a new tradition for all of them, and that they'd carry it on wherever they went, and bring in others to help.

"I think we've started something here today," Mal said to Zoe and Tracy.

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2517)**

"Your move," Jayne said to Mal, as a waitress came to the table and tucked a slip of paper with a job prospect on it into Mal's coat pocket, taking a coin off the table by way of payment for the referral.

Mal jumped a series of pieces. "That's a bold move," Zoe said, impressed.

"I live on the edge," Mal said, downing the last of his third drink.

Zoe used Mal's opening to jump even more pieces.

"Nice work, dumbass," Jayne said to Mal as Zoe chuckled at him, a smirk on her face.

"I've given some thought to moving off the edge," Mal said ironically. "Not an ideal location. Might get a place in the middle."

"Toast!" yelled a man at the bar.

 _Here we go,_ thought Zoe.

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2516)**

 _Serenity_ was in the wastes between worlds, and Mal sat down in the galley with Zoe, the bottle of Jack Daniels he had used to christen the ship and a couple of glasses between them. He poured each glass half-full of the brown liquid and passed one to her.

"Let's hope," he said, "that on Boros and maybe a hundred other worlds, our tradition is being carried out in our absence."

Zoe raised her glass. "To the Browncoats," she said.

"To the Browncoats," Mal repeated with a nod and clinked glasses with her before they each took a long gulp.

"And to all the skulls we would have fractured," Mal said.

"That too," agreed Zoe.

 **O-O-O**

 **(July 3rd, 2517)**

"Toast!" the bald man at the bar cried out again. "Quiet! Shut up!"

The music in the bar died to silence.

"I'm uh… I got words," the Toastmaster said. "I'm saying… This… is an 'ass-picious' day. We all know what day it is."

In the back, Jayne looked on, confused. "Suspicious? What day is it?"

"A glorious day for all the proud members of the Allied Planets," said the Toastmaster, holding his drink in his hand. "Unification Day!"

"Yeah, yeah!" various members around the bar raised their drinks and voiced their assent.

"The end of the scumbag independents," the Toastmaster said, "and the dawn of a new galaxy!"

"Yeah!" someone cried from one of the tables. Similar cheers went up all around the establishment.

Mal started to rise. "Captain?" Zoe asked.

"I just feel the need for another drink," Mal said as he headed for the bar.

"What month is it?" Jayne asked Zoe as Mal walked off.

Mal placed his cup on the bar and ordered another round, coincidentally standing next to the Toastmaster, who eyed him. "Hey," he said. "You gonna drink the Alliance with me? Six years _today_ , Alliance sent the Browncoats runnin', pissin' their pants."

Mal said nothing as he paid the bartender and took his drink while the Toastmaster eyed him up and down. "You know, your coat is kind of a brownish color…"

"It was on sale," Mal said, taking a drink.

"You didn't toast," the man said. "You know, I'm thinkin' you're one of them Independents."

Mal put down his drink and turned to face the man. "And I'm thinking you weren't burdened with an overabundance of schooling. So why don't we just ignore each other 'till we go away?"

"The Independents were a bunch of cowardly, inbred piss-pots, shoulda been killed offa every world spinnin'," said the Toastmaster as Mal took another sip. He put down his drink angrily and turned to face the man again.

"Say that to my face," he said, seriously.

The man turned to fully face Mal, and expression of anger and defiance on his face as he swaggered in place. "I said you're a coward, and a piss-pot. Now what are you gonna do about it?"

Mal grinned. "Nothing. I just wanted you to face me so she could get behind you," he said.

The man began to turn, and got halfway around before Zoe cracked him across the skull with her Mare's Leg. He went down, passed out.

"Drunks are so cute," Mal said to her.

The pair turned at the sound of scraping wood, as more than a dozen men got to their feet.

"Oh," said Mal. " _Zhe zhen shi ge kuaile de jinzhan_."

Zoe's voice had a hint of panic in it. "Jayne?"

Back at the table, Jayne called back. "Hey, I didn't fight in no war. Best 'o luck, though."

"Fine," said Mal, pulling down the lapels of his coat. "Let's do this."

Less than a minute later, Mal was tossed out the holographic window and into the dirt road in front of the bar. The window flickered for a moment, then corrected itself. He pulled out his comm. "Wash? We got some local color happening. A grand entrance would not go amiss." He then got back to his feet.

Zoe kicked a man out the front door of the bar, then decked another, the kicked man instead going after Mal, who ducked his first punch, then countered. He feigned two strikes with his fist before kicking the man in the shin as hard as he could, then punching him cold in the face when the man hopped on one leg in pain. Meanwhile, Zoe sent another man to the ground as several more poured from the entrance. "Is Jayne even awake?" Mal demanded.

The three men coming from the entrance backed out, pushed by a bar stool that Jayne held sideways. He hit one in the head with the seat, sending him to the ground, then swung at another with it.

Zoe, for her part, had been knocked to the ground, and threw a handful of dirt in her attacker's face as she got to her feet before lunging at him and head butting him. Jayne had thrown the stool at someone and was now being menaced with it.

All three members of the _Serenity_ crew were being driven back, and Mal looked behind him just in time to notice that he was at the edge of a cliff.

"Whoa-ho-ho! Ha ha!" Mal cried. "There is just an acre of you fellas, isn't there?" He turned to Zoe. "This is why we lost, you know; superior numbers."

"Thanks for the re-enactment, sir," Zoe deadpanned.

The Toastmaster stepped to the front of the crowd and pulled out a long, silver revolver; two others in the group also pulled. "Hey, them ain't kosherized rules!" Jane exclaimed.

The Toastmaster cocked his weapon, a purple, bleeding welt on his forehead. "I'm thinkin' somebody needs to put you down, dog. What do you think?"

Mal refused to back down. "I'm thinking we'll rise again," he said, as _Serenity_ rose majestically from beneath the cliff's edge and into the air, facing the men.

The ramp began to descend as Wash's voice came over the external speakers. "Every man there go back inside, or we will blow a new crater in this little moon."

The crowd reluctantly lowered their weapons and headed back into the bar as Mal, Zoe and Jayne stepped onto the ramp, Mal giving a wave as it closed behind him.

He had to laugh as he watched them go; _Serenity_ had no weapons.

 **(Author's Note: Given the fact that I had written early on that Zoe and Mal had agreed upon this Unification Day tradition, I thought it would be nice to show what happened in those intervening years. Some of the 2517 segments, including the entire end section, comes verbatim from the opening segment of Episode 2, "The Train Job".)**

 **(Next Time: Hold A Man Over The Volcano's Edge - The past of Adelai Niska is explored as he tortures a familiar face to death.)**


	26. Hold A Man Over The Volcano's Edge

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 26: Hold A Man Over The Volcano's Edge  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **If anything goes wrong, then your reputation only gossip, and things between us, not so solid."  
-Adelai Niska – Episode 2: "The Train Job"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 2, "The Train Job", and Episode 3, "Bushwhacked".)**

 **(Trigger Warning: This story contains depictions of torture. It** _ **is**_ **about Adelai Niska, after all, so it can't be helped.)**

 **(2472)**

On the streets of Artemis, a young man, flanked by a pair of bodyguards, entered a shop that sold Earth-That-Was antiques. The items were very expensive, and the shop made a lot of money, despite the fact that they would sometimes go weeks without making a single sale.

The young man, Adelai Niska, checked his look in an old mirror and swept some stray locks away from his eyes, straightening the part in his hair.

"Can I help-" the shopkeeper began to say as he stepped from the back room, then stopped suddenly when he saw who it was. "What do you want?" he demanded instead.

Niska gave a grim smile, stepping up to the counter; he wasn't too used to speaking English, but the man was from Titan Colony, so he'd have to slum it for the sake of this conversation, eschewing his native Russian. "Nikolai says you refuse to pay protection money," he said. "I came to hear with my own ears why you do such a thing."

The man was angry, defiant. "I've spoken with the other shopkeepers on the street. We're done with your extortion scheme, Niska. We're not paying anymore, see?"

Niska's face was unreadable; his bodyguards knew this was extremely dangerous, but the shopkeeper did not. "You need protection," Niska said. "You all need protection; maybe you won't pay, but they will."

"Oh?" asked the shopkeeper. "The only crime in this neighborhood is from your gang. If we all stand up to you, and report your activities to the Piyoni City Police, which we already have, what do we need protection from?"

Niska gave a soft chuckle, stepping around the counter. "I have no fear of police; I own police," Niska said. "As for protection, you need protection from _me_." With that, he ejected a knife from a spring clip up his sleeve and drove the long blade deep into the man's stomach, giving it a twist for good measure.

"As I said, you may not pay, but _they_ will. I make example of you, they all fall in line. You die, and business is still running, yes?"

The man grasped Niska's hands, trying to pull the knife out of his body, but to no avail; despite his small stature, Niska was just too powerful. Instead, Niska curved the blade up with surprising strength and tore into the man's heart.

The shopkeeper went down, leaving Niska holding his knife, which was dripping with blood. One of his bodyguards handed him a white handkerchief. "Here you are, sir."

" _Spasibo, Piotr,_ " Niska said, wiping of his blade and his hands with the cloth before handing it back. " _Nazyvat' Nikolai i skazat' yemu, problema reshena._ "

 **O-O-O**

 **(2513)**

Decades later, Niska sat in a shuttle pod orbiting Ezra. "Here," he said. "Is perfect. We build Skyplex here."

"Yes, Mr. Niska," said the engineer accompanying him in the pod. They had already been over the specs and design, but Niska himself wanted to view the Lagrange Point, and pick the site where his new home would be; Ezra was central to his operation, and a good place to sit upon his throne and rake in the platinum.

This was no trifling expense; the Skyplex would cost over a million credits, with maintenance costs in the tens of thousands every year, to say nothing of the personnel to run it, and the armed security guards to protect it. The cost was not dissimilar to owning his own luxury liner, and the thought of residing on one, with its opulence and mobility, was somewhat attractive to Niska, but he had always been a man of solitude, and the idea of sharing all that space with tourists was odious to him.

Niska's syndicate had thrived over the years, and like Samson in reverse, as he had lost his hair, he had grown more powerful. He now controlled criminal activities across thirty planets and moons, and had over a dozen ships at his disposal, including his newest acquisition, _The Valiant_.

"I want to make change to design of office," Niska said in his Slavic accent. "Must have antechamber for my hobby."

"Of course, Mr. Niska," said the engineer, shuddering. Everyone in Niska's employ was aware of his hobbies, chief among them the torture of his enemies and employees that had betrayed or otherwise failed him. He would build the room, and hope he would never have reason to see it again once it was finished. "We'll alter the blueprints to your specifications once we get back to the conference room on _The Valiant_."

"You are familiar with my hobbies, yes?" Niska asked, making conversation as the pod made its way back to the ship.

The pilot tensed. "Yes sir, I am."

"Are you familiar with the writings of _Shan Yu_?"

"Not extensively, Mr. Niska, but I am aware of some of the basics," said the engineer.

Niska smiled. "I do what I do because I am student of human nature. One should always be student, be always learning. _Shan Yu_ wrote that even if you live with a man for forty years, share your house and meals with him, and talk about every subject, you will still not know the true man. But tie him up, and hold him over the volcano's edge, then, and only then, will you finally meet the man."

"I see, Mr. Niska. I hope you don't take it personally, but if that's true, I hope we never have reason to meet."

Niska laughed and clapped the man on the shoulder. "You are a good engineer and architect, James. I do not think such a meeting is necessary. You do Skyplex for me, and you are solid."

"Yes, Mr. Niska," said James with a sigh of relief, and lined the shuttle pod up with the docking bay.

 **O-O-O**

 **(2517)**

Aboard the still-unfinished Skyplex, as Niska watched, Gerald Benson, who acted as Crow's replacement as his assistant and torturer when Crow was away on missions, removed the electrical leads from Bester's chest, and regarded the young man for a few moments, looking over his tattoos.

"Benson, _yego sosok_."

Benson nodded, and began to carve off Bester's left nipple, along with the triangular black tattoo around it. Once tanned, it would make a nice addition to Niska's wife's collection; the woman kept interesting tattoos in a series of scrapbooks, and had even turned some of the more interesting samples into lampshades, as Niska had read that the wives of some of the Nazi concentration camp commandants had done 500 years ago on Earth-That-Was. Bester screamed as he was cut, the tracks of his tears glistening in rivulets down his face, and blood running down his bare chest.

" _Teper yego listo,_ " Niska said, and Benson pulled his knife up to the tattooed, parallel lines on Bester's right cheek. " _Otrezal sebe ukho , a._ "

Benson sliced off the tattoo, careful to take off the ear as well, in one large piece, as he had been instructed by Niska. As the ear came off, Bester shrieked in agony.

"You cost me six hundred credits on a job, and even more in lost work," Niska said to Bester. "Your incompetence is unforgivable, so we are going to spend the day getting to know each other."

Bester whimpered and whined. He knew he was a dead man, and knew even better from the stories that the crew of _The Valiant_ had told him that it would do no good to beg for mercy, and that doing so would only delight Niska and prolong the inevitable. He wisely kept his pleading to himself.

Viktor entered the room, his black, ornate shirt with its banded collar almost lost against the dark skin of Niska's operations manager. He stepped up to Niska, who held his hand up to Benson, causing the bald torturer to stop.

"Billy and the others are back," said Viktor, "Except for Crow. Billy is asking to speak to you immediately."

"Very well," said Niska with irritation in his voice. "Send him in."

Viktor bowed and left, and less than a minute later a portly fighter with a cap on his head entered the room.

"Where is Crow?" asked Niska.

"He's dead, Mr. Niska," said Billy. " _Serenity_ betrayed us. They didn't make the rendezvous, so Crow had us head out on foot to their location. When we got there, they had the goods, but they told Crow that they had changed their mind and were going to return the Pescaline D to the people of Paradiso. Crow attacked; we all did, but they overpowered us and took us prisoner. Ronson took a bullet to the upper chest, I got knocked out by a crack to the skull, and Crow got shot in the left thigh."

Niska pursed his lips and pressed his hands together, obviously unhappy. "Then, after they had returned the drugs to the townspeople, they attempted to return the money you had paid them in advance to Crow. Crow refused to take it, and threatened Captain Reynolds. Threatened to hunt him down and kill him no matter where he went. Reynolds… he… Well, Mr. Niska, they put him through their engine."

Niska closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths; Crow had been his right hand man for years. "Then what happened?"

"Then they had me kneel down in front of the engine, and offered me the money," he said, taking a wad of credits out of his pocket and offering them to Niska. "Not wanting to take a trip through their engine myself, I accepted them, and agreed to relay a message to you."

"I see," said Niska, taking the bills. "And what is the message?"

Billy thought, trying to get the wording right. "The job didn't work out, and Reynolds is sorry. He's returning the money because even though they're thieves, they're not taking what is yours. He says he and his crew will do their best to stay out of your way from now on, and he wanted me to explain to you that that's best for everyone. Then he let us all go."

"Viktor!" Niska snapped. Viktor emerged from the shadows and presented himself to his boss.

"Yes, Mr. Niska?" Viktor asked.

"Put out a bounty of five-thousand credits on Captain Reynolds, and twenty-five-hundred on any other member of _Serenity's_ crew. I also want our planetary sensors to keep an eye out for her, in case she makes the mistake of coming back to Ezra, yes?"

"I'll see to it at once, Mr. Niska," said Viktor, and stepped out of the room.

"That is all, Billy. Do not fail me again," Niska said. It was hard to be angry at Billy or the others when even Crow himself had failed and perished.

With that, Niska and Benson turned back to Bester, who whimpered again as he realized his reprieve from the pain and torture was over. "Your fumbling hands have now cost me a fortune, Mr. Bester. Now we will see to it that your hands never fail anyone again."

Niska smiled. "Benson, _yego pal'tsy,_ " Niska said without emotion.

As he watched with immense satisfaction, Benson began to cut off Bester's fingers, one by one, with a pair of bolt cutters. With each digit removed, Bester cried out and began to weep in earnest. Next would come his toes, the other ear, his nose, and eyes. His tongue and teeth they would leave in place for when they got his genitals, and for the inevitable conversation that Niska desired to have with all his victims.

When his fingers and thumbs had all been removed, Niska held up his hand for Benson to stop. "Tell me, Mr. Bester… Are you familiar with the writings of _Shan Yu?_ "

 **(Author's Note: I apologize for the graphic nature of this chapter, but when you're dealing with Adelai Niska, it simply can't be helped. For you Bester fans, I'm sad to say that this is the last we'll seeing of him, except perhaps in flashback. Truly a sad end for a sad (and incompetent) character. I'm actually kind of sad to see him go, and I hope you are, too.)**

 **(Next Time: The Gunslinger - After the failure of the train job, the crew seeks to make some money by collecting on a bounty that results in a quick-draw in the center of town. On one side, an outlaw that has killed over a dozen men. On the other, Jayne Cobb, and his antique pistol.)**


	27. The Gunslinger

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 27: The Gunslinger  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Hell, I'll kill a man in a fair fight... or if I think he's gonna start a fair fight, or if he bothers me, or if there's a woman, or if I'm gettin' paid - mostly only when I'm gettin' paid."  
-Jayne Cobb - "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 2, "The Train Job", and Episode 3, "Bushwhacked".)**

The crew of _Serenity_ were taking their ease on Regina following their abortive train job for Adelai Niska. The town of Santa Maria was small, the planet practically a backwater, despite the existence of a few small cities that could barely be classified as such. While the women window-shopped, Mal spent some more of his reserves to buy some skirts, shoes, and shirts for River Tam, as well as sundries for River and Simon both. The Doctor might have been working for free, but that still meant that the siblings' expenses still had to be paid out of his pocket, and River clearly needed more clothing so she could stop borrowing clothes from Kaylee, which obviously did not fit her petite frame.

"Thank you, Captain," Simon said. "River and I both appreciate the consideration you've shown for us."

"Well, you don't draw a salary, Doctor, and that means someone has to pay for your needs. Ain't gonna be Jayne, that's for sure, so it might as well be me."

As they made their way down the street, the crowd of eight made their way in front of the Sheriff's office, and Simon tensed. As a fugitive, he and his sister rarely left the ship, but the Captain had referred to the town as a backwater, and said it was unlikely there would be any Feds.

Shepherd Book was not with them, choosing instead to do his preaching across and further down the street, a small wooden box in front of him in the dirt road for donations as he spoke to a small crowd that had gathered to listen to him speak.

"Hey, Mal, look," Jayne said, nodding his head towards one of the wanted posters attacked to a corkboard outside of the office. "Jimmy Grant, wanted dead or alive for murdering fourteen men. Last seen here in Santa Maria, and a three hundred platinum bounty."

Mal looked over the photograph on the poster. "Looks like he's too much for local law enforcement to handle," he said.

"That is one angry looking man," said Kaylee.

"I've got an idea," said the Captain. "I'll be right back."

He then disappeared inside the Sheriff's office, and returned a few minutes later.

"Grant is an outlaw," Mal said. "Sheriff's the only Lawman in the town, and they ain't got any chance of getting Feds out here to help out, since the nearest Fed base is over three thousand miles away. Grant's gunned down anyone who's so much as looked at him funny, and half the men killed have challenged him to a draw out here on the main drag for the reward. He's fast, but I'm willing to bet that Jayne here is faster."

"You want me to take him out, Mal?" Jayne asked.

"I do," said Mal. "We need coin, especially after losing the money from the train job. Let's all go to the Tavern; according to the Sheriff, he spends a fair amount of time there."

"What do we do if we find him there?" asked Jayne.

"I've got a plan," said Mal.

 **O-O-O**

Jimmy Grant sat alone in the tavern, a glass and a bottle of whiskey in front of him. The owner of the establishment, who was terrified of being gunned down by Grant, not only let him camp out all day in the bar, but let him drink for free. Everyone gave the man a wide berth; the entire town was afraid of him.

A group of eight unfamiliar men and women entered the establishment and made their way over to Grant's table. A tall man wearing a long, brown coat, was obviously their leader, and regarded Grant with respect.

"Jimmy Grant?" he asked.

"That's me," Grant said. "What do you want?"

"I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds. We'd like to join you," said the man in the coat.

Grant took particular notice of the women, one of whom was exceptionally beautiful and wore an opulent dress. He got to his feet and took off his hat. "Ma'am."

Mal, Jayne, and Zoe took up the other three chairs, while the other members of _Serenity's_ crew pulled chairs from nearby tables and crowded around Grant's.

"Are you a Companion?" Grant asked the beautiful woman.

"I am," she said. "My name is Inara, and I've got a proposition for you.

"Oh?" Grant asked. "And what is that?"

The man to the right of the Reynolds spoke up. "My name's Jayne Cobb, and I intend to collect on that bounty."

"Glasses and another bottle!" called out Grant, and the owner brought over eight more glasses and a second bottle of whiskey.

"Drink with me," said Grant. "I figure the least I can do is buy a dead man his last drink."

"Actually," said Inara as Grant poured whiskey into each of the glasses, "that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about. If you follow the rules of the duel, and beat Jayne here without killing him, I'll give you a free thrust."

"I ain't never been with a registered Companion before," Grant said. "I ain't even seen one in my lifetime. It's a deal."

He raised his glass, and the crew of _Serenity_ did the same. "To a free thrust," Grant said. They all clinked glasses and drank.

"Two in the afternoon?" asked Jayne.

"Sounds good to me," Grant responded.

Mal stood up and addressed the dozen or so men and women in the bar. "Ladies and menfolk," he said, "My name's Malcolm Reynolds, Captain of Serenity, berthed a couple miles outside of town. My 'associate' here, Jayne Cobb, will be drawing against Jimmy Grant at two this afternoon on Main Street."

Several people pulled out comms and began making calls, to tell their friends to be in town for the showdown. The owner responded by offering everyone there a round on the house, which caused several people to clap.

"What do you carry?" Jayne asked Grant.

Grant reached to his side and placed a black revolver on the table. "It's an antique Colt .45, from Earth-That-Was. It's nearly 600 years old, and still in perfect working order. It was carried in the Second World War in Africa and Western Europe."

Jayne smiled. "You'll appreciate this, then, as a lover of antiques." He pulled out his own black revolver, and placed it on the table as well.

"It's a customized LeMat Percussion Revolver, originally designed in the 19th century, and carried in the American Civil War by a Colonel in the Confederate Army. It fires .42 or .36 caliber rounds, and the lower barrel is a smooth-bore that fires a single round of buckshot."

"Impressive," said Grant, picking up the LeMat and looking it over carefully. "This lever here switches between the two firing modes?"

"Yeah," said Jayne. "I ain't got much call to use the shotgun, but it's handy to have as a backup."

Grant handed it back, and both men holstered their weapons. "Another drink?" the gunslinger asked Jayne.

"I ain't never one to turn down a free drink," Jayne said, and Grant poured another round for everyone.

"To the late Jimmy Grant," Jayne said. Kaylee and Wash chuckled and everyone clinked glasses, even Grant, before downing their drinks.

"Awful sure of yourself, ain't ya?" Grant asked.

"I ain't lost a fight yet," Jayne said, "and I don't plan to start today."

 **O-O-O**

At five minutes to two in the afternoon, everyone in the bar headed outside; the street was already crowded with people lined up on both sides, and the Sheriff stood in front of the general store. Mal and Zoe took up positions on either side of the Sheriff. Jayne and Grant stepped into the street, hands hovering over their holsters, and moved into place approximately twenty feet apart.

"On the count of three," the Sheriff called out. "When I say 'three', you both draw, not after."

"I got it," said Jayne, staring down Grant.

The Sheriff raised his right hand in the air. "One!" he cried out.

Jayne instantly reached for his weapon and drew it. Grant, shocked, reached for his pistol, but it was too late; he had been caught off guard, and before he could pull his Colt out of its holster, Jayne had fired, the bullet catching Grant right between the eyes.

Grant went down on his back, dead before he hit the ground. The townsfolk cheered, as the Terror of Santa Maria was finally dead, and good riddance to him.

"That weren't exactly fair," said the Sheriff to Mal.

"Don't matter," Mal replied. "His gunning down four unarmed men weren't particularly fair, either."

"Good point," said the Sheriff as Jayne headed over to join the trio.

"We'll take that three hundred in platinum now," Mal said.

The Sheriff excused himself and headed toward the bank to make a withdrawal, while the rest of the crew of _Serenity_ crowded around Jayne.

"I always suspected you didn't know how to count to three," Wash said.

Jayne looked piqued. "You want to go, little man?"

"Only if it's a nice place with mints on the pillows," Wash said in reply.

"That was real smart, Cap'n," said Kaylee, "getting Inara to offer him a free roll if he didn't draw early."

"Thank Inara for agreeing to make the offer," Mal said. "By the way, Ambassador, you earned your ten percent, if you want it."

Inara held up her hands. "No thanks," she said. "I prefer to earn my money the honorable way."

"On your back?" Mal asked with a wink. "Anyway, once we get our bounty and everyone gets their cut, I suggest we do some more shopping and then be on our merry. Jayne, you're getting twenty percent for this endeavor; you did all the heavy lifting, after all."

Jayne smiled. "Always a pleasure," he said. "And on top of that, I got me another antique pistol," he said, pulling out Grant's Colt .45 from his pants and showing it off to the assembled crew.

 **O-O-O**

The crew made their way up the ramp, most loaded down with bags and packages, and Mal holding what remained of the money in a cloth sack. "Wash, take us out of the world."

"We'll be out of atmo in less than five minutes, Captain," Wash said, heading for the stairs to the Bridge.

Mal slapped the buttons to raise the ramp and close the inner airlock door. Once they were underway, Mal sat at the dining table while Zoe prepared a pot of tea.

"We made out okay on this deal," Mal said, "despite losing the money from the train job. I wanted to run something past you, though."

Zoe scooped the tea into the pot and finished filling it with water from the hot tap. "What's that, sir?"

"If we happen to end up in the Murphy System, I want to make a stop on Shadow."

Zoe stopped what she was doing and turned to face Mal. "You want to see your ranch, sir?"

"That's right," Mal said.

"Sir, you know what those purple bellies did to Shadow. It's a radioactive cinder. Why would you want to go back there? No one lives there anymore; no one can."

"Call it sentimentality," Mal said. "I've got plenty of reasons to hate the Alliance already, but I want to see the ranch again, to see with my own eyes what those _wangbadans_ did to it."

"You're the Captain, sir. If you want to go to the Murphy System, that's your prerogative, and if you want to see a planet of black glass, that's your prerogative, too."

"We won't go out of our way," Mal said, "but if we're in the area, you know."

"Just give the word, sir."

 **(Author's Note: I know what previously I mentioned that Mal had used money from the sale of his ranch on Shadow to pay for** _ **Serenity**_ **, an oversight I have since fixed. A fan recently informed me (and I confirmed through the Wiki) that Shadow was bombed to the point of uninhabitability by the Alliance to cut off vital food supplies for the Independents and to make an example of Shadow, to demonstrate Alliance resolve. As a result, going forward, I will stay true to the Wiki, and to the deleted scenes, in which Shadow is referred to as uninhabitable.)**

 **(Next Time: A Vasty Nothingness - Following the events of Episode 3, "Bushwhacked", the crew discusses the nature and the threat of the Reavers, and how it might be possible for an innocent to be turned into one just from the trauma of watching the Reavers indulge in their urges.)**


	28. A Vasty Nothingness

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 28: A Vasty Nothingness  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Reavers might take issue with that philosophy...if they** _ **had**_ **a philosophy...and they weren't too busy gnawing on your insides. Jayne's right. Reavers ain't men. Or they forgot how to be. Come to just nothin'. They got out to the edge of the galaxy, to that place of nothin', and that's what they became."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 3, "Bushwhacked"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 3, "Bushwhacked", and Episode 4, "Shindig".)**

The crew of _Serenity_ sat down to dinner, the Alliance Cruiser that had boarded long behind them, as was the wreck of the scow the Reavers had attacked.

"So what ended up happening, Cap'n, that they let us go?" Kaylee asked.

Mal shoveled some molded protein into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully before swallowing. "The Colonel was going to charge us all for killing everyone over on that derelict and mutilating the survivor, who had split his tongue in two with a scalpel. Just as the MPs were about the lead me out of the room, he received a report that everyone in the operating theater that had been working on him had been killed. The Colonel ordered security increased and that guards be posted around the nursery. At that point, I told him that they wouldn't find him, but I knew where he would go."

"Back to _Serenity?_ " Kaylee asked.

"Back to _Serenity._ The guard at the airlock was dead, and they let me go in first, with my hands in irons in front of me. I made it past the kitchen, and just beyond it, I turned and sure enough, there was Simon and River, just waiting to get caught. That poor bastard had been hiding in the galley, and put a knife in the Colonel's guard before knocking the Colonel down; he sprayed blood all over the Colonel's face and about to take a bite out of him, maybe tear out his throat. The boy's face was all cut up, and he had suture needles sticking out all over his cheeks and forehead. I was still cuffed, but I grabbed him around the throat and broke his neck."

"Mal saved his life," Jayne said, "and that _hundan_ still takes the cargo."

"Yeah," Kaylee said, "but he still let us go. Didn't even cite us for our missing bow markings. Just let us go free as birds."

"We got real lucky," Mal said. "Especially with the Doctor and River. If that man hadn't been hiding behind one of the loungers in the galley, they'd both be in custody right now, and all of us along with them, charged with aiding and abetting."

Kaylee, who usually sat next to Simon, put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "How was your spacewalk?" she asked.

"I want to go again!" River piped up. "Being out in the Black was fun!"

Simon closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. "It was terrifying. I think I have astrophobia. I held on to that rail so tight I thought I might break my suit, and when I tried to get my magnetic boots back onto the hull of the ship, I was certain I was going to end up losing contact and floating away into space. Next time, if there is a next time, I want a tether to make sure I don't end up orbiting some moon."

Wash chuckled. "At least you know how to put a suit on the right way, now."

"I still don't understand how a man could get so wrong," Jayne said. "He weren't no Reaver, but he turned into one, started acting like one."

Mal put down his fork. "They made him watch. They forced him to watch everything they did to the others, to his own family, just for the sheer perversity of it. You can't go through that and come through unchanged."

"I find that very hard to believe," Book said, "that just by being forced to witness atrocities like that would cause a man to emulate those behaviors."

"You might find it hard to believe, Shepherd, but the evidence is very compelling. He had a galley full of food, but he didn't eat for weeks, because he was waiting for someone to come along to eat instead. Doc said it himself: he was suffering from borderline malnutrition."

"Alliance still don't admit Reavers are real," Zoe said. "Sooner or later, they're gonna have to 'fess up to the problem, and deal with them, hunt them down and stop them once and for all."

"In the meantime," Jayne said, "unsuspecting travelers get served up as lunch for them. _Gorram_ nightmare, if you ask me. They're pushing further out every year, I mean, hell, we almost ended up as a banquet for them on Whitefall, of all places, and that's on the near side of the Border Worlds to the Core."

"Sooner or later, they're gonna start hitting ships and towns in the Core," Mal said. "At that point, Zoe's right, they're gonna have to start dealing with the problem."

"The problem might take care of itself before that ever happens," Wash said. "If all their ships are flying without core containment like the ship we passed a few months back and the one that boarded us over half a year ago are any indication, they'll all be dead from radiation sickness before too long."

"Pax," said River. " _Bellum, pacem facit._ Reavers ate from the Apple of Discord and declared war on the 'Verse."

" _Yeshu,"_ Jayne said. "I wonder if that girl will ever say a thing that makes a _gorram_ bit of sense."

"You look better in red," River said to Jayne.

"Thanks," Jayne said, rolling his eyes. "I'll keep that in mind. _Gorram_ freak."

 **O-O-O**

That night, as River sat in her dorm room, she drew a blue planet with a single grey moon, orbiting a blue sun. "Just like Earth-That-Was," she said. "I don't want this memory. I wish it would go away."

Hearing her mumbling to herself, Simon slid the door open and stepped inside. "What are you drawing?" he asked.

River thought for a long moment, not knowing what to call the planet. "Terra," she lied.

"Earth-That-Was?" he asked. "The continents are wrong."

"It's from before the continental drift," she said. "When there was just one continent, Pangea."

"The sun is the wrong color," he replied.

"Artistic license."

"Ah," Simon said. "How have you been sleeping?"

"I haven't slept in three days," she said. "Not since the Reaver boy."

"Let me give you something to help you sleep, then," he said, stepping out of the room and returning from the infirmary with a syringe of Nebulene. "Roll up your sleeve."

Sticking out her tongue and huffing, River did as she was told, and Simon spiked her. Within seconds, she began to feel drowsy, and set her drawing materials aside. As Simon watched, she curled up on her side and fell fast asleep.

As Simon stepped out of River's dorm, he ran into Kaylee, who was coming down for a visit. He closed the door after holding a finger to his lips. He gestured her to follow, and walked into the common area, where the pair sat down on a large sofa.

"How's she doin'?" Kaylee asked.

"She's sleeping for the first time in days," he said. "She was profoundly affected by that ship, and the survivor. Inara said she was screaming off and on while he was in the infirmary, and honestly, we're all lucky she didn't scream when the Colonel and his men were on the ship and the boy attacked."

"She seems to be really sensitive to the feelings of others," Kaylee said. "You think that might have something to do with what they did to her at the Academy?"

"I don't know," Simon lied. He didn't like lying to Kaylee, or anyone else, really, but he knew that telling anyone on the ship that River was conditioned to be a psychic assassin would be a one-way ticket off _Serenity_.

He thought of the safe word that Quinn and Pembry had told him to use in the event she ever went out control, to put her to sleep: _"Eta Kooram Nah Smech"_ , which he had been told was Russian for "That's laughter for chickens."

"I like her," said Kaylee. "I like her a lot, but sooner or later you're going to need to figure out what they did to her if she's ever gonna have any peace. That girl ain't right."

"I know," said Simon. "I'll figure it out, sooner or later. I don't know how, but I will. I don't have any choice."

 **O-O-O**

In his quarters, Mal stood and kicked his toilet into the flush position, then pulled out his sink and washed his hands. He was about to climb the ladder and talk to Wash on the Bridge, but something stopped him. He walked past his bed and to a shelf on the wall. Sitting in the center of the shelf was a long, small box. Almost reverently, he opened it, and stared at the empty syringe sitting atop the red velvet inside the box. He thought back to the day that first saw the syringe, the day he had seen a Reaver with his own eyes for the first time, and reached out with his hand, running his fingers down the cool glass before closing the box again.

No one, not even Inara, knew that he had kept the box and its contents.

It was getting crowded in his sky, the Black now filled with Reavers on one side, and the Alliance on the other. He felt as though it was just a matter of time before one or the other took him down. He wasn't entirely sure which fate would be worse.

And with that, he stepped to the ladder and ascended to the deck above.

 **(Author's Note: While I feel that virtually every episode in the Firefly canon is a gem, there are two episodes I can take or leave, and "Bushwhacked" is one of them, quite possibly my least favorite episode. Perhaps it's the lack of humor, or perhaps it's something else; I just don't care for it that much. Still, in writing about it, I have found some heretofore undiscovered respect for it; the concept that new Reavers can be created just by making ordinary people watch what they do is a fascinating one, that people can become traumatized into turning savage. Also, for those of you that don't speak Latin, River's line is "Peace (also known as 'Pax' in Latin) creates war".)**

 **(Next Time: The Glass Slipper - Mal presents a beautiful dress to Kaylee and tells her he has a job for her: to escort him to Persephone's seasonal ball.)**


	29. The Glass Slipper

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 29: The Glass Slipper  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **What are you gonna do in that rig? Flounce around the engine room? Be like a sheep walkin' on its hind legs."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – Episode 4: "Shindig"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 4, "Shindig".)**

Mal and Jayne stepped from the dress shop on Persephone, with Mal carrying a hanger over his shoulder, a large, poofy pink dress hanging from it, wrapped in protective plastic.

The dress had cost fifteen platinum, which Badger had fronted in the hopes that Mal and his escort to the ball would be able to meet with Warrick Harrow, and convince Harrow to allow _Serenity_ to ferry his cargo to Jianying. It was a three-week journey, but the potential profit would more than make up for the trouble of making the trip. And best of all, Jianying was the primary world around the Red Sun, _Zhu Que_ , and from there it was just a hop to the Murphy system, and Mal's desired stop on Shadow.

It was already late in the day, with the sun dipping toward the horizon, as the pair walked several miles to the Eavesdown Docks. They headed to _Serenity's_ berth, and walked up the ramp and into the cargo bay. Mal hung the dress on one of the rungs of the ladder to Kaylee's bunk, then headed to the engine room.

"Kaylee!" Mal called as he stepped down the corridor between the galley and the engine room. "Kaylee!"

Kaylee was working on an engine component with an electric bolt driver. "Not speaking to you, Captain."

"Got no need to speak," Mal said. "Come on, got a job for you."

Unseen by Mal, Kaylee made a face and mouthed some silent curses in Chinese. She finished driving the bolt into place and turned to follow the Captain.

Mal led her fore of the galley, and into the hallway that led to the bridge, where all the bunks were. He stopped in front of the entrance to Kaylee's bunk and turned around.

Kaylee stepped up to him and turned to her right to look, seeing the dress, the very dress she had been admiring just a few hours before, when Mal had insulted her. "What? What is this doing here?" she asked.

"Told you, I got a job for you," Mal said. "You're escorting me to a ball tonight, lots of Persephone high society types."

"A- A ball?" Kaylee asked, a little frightened at the prospect of being around so many rich and powerful people. "And this is for me?"

"This is for you," Mal repeated, and Kaylee threw her arms around him. "Easy, girl. I just hope I got your size right. Now hurry up and get ready; we have to leave soon."

Kaylee opened the entrance to her bunk and started to climb down. "I have to get my makeup and wash up in the passenger dorms," she said. She was grimy, with grease streaked across her face. "Are there shoes?"

"Didn't get no money for shoes," Mal said as Kaylee disappeared. "Dress goes to the floor; you should be able to wear whatever under it and it won't be noticed."

Mal stepped into his bunk and began to dress in a suit, tying an string tie around his neck. When he was done, he returned to the deck, noticing the dress was gone. He went into the galley and sat down to wait for Kaylee.

A half an hour later, she returned, resplendent in her new gown, her hair done up, and she wore a huge grin on her face. She ran her pink gloved hands down the front of the dress, smoothing its ruffles. "I love it. It's perfect!"

"Wait here," he said, and stepped into the Bridge. "Wash, call a cab for me and Kaylee. We're going to the ball downtown tonight."

Fifteen minutes later, Mal and Kaylee were sitting in the back of the cab, flying toward two pairs of searchlights that cut through the night sky. The cab deposited them in front of the convention center, and they had to wait behind a short line of limousines before exiting the vehicle. Mal got out first, then stepped around the other side and let Kaylee out of the cab.

They proceeded up the red carpet, and stopped in front of a patch of wall with ivy on it, while photographers covering the event took their pictures. Once inside the building, they handed over their invitations and gave Kaylee's full name, giving only "Escort" to designate Mal, rather than his name.

They stepped from the antechamber into the main ballroom, the Chief Usher calling out their names as they made their way inside.

"Kaywinnet Lee Frye, and escort."

 **O-O-O**

Later, while Mal searched for Warrick Harrow, Kaylee watched the couples dance as she gorged herself at the buffet table. When she was sated for the moment, she plucked a long-stemmed strawberry from an enormous, golden bowl of them, and began to mill about, and after a brief, one-sided exchange with a servant, she quickly found herself before four young women, all in beautiful dresses.

"Hello," Kaylee said with a grin on her face.

"Don't, uh…" said the lead girl. "Have we been introduced?"

"Oh, I'm Kaylee," Kaylee shook the girl's hand.

"Banning," she said. "And this is Dester, Cabott, and Zoe," she explained, gesturing to her three companions. Kaylee grinned broadly at all of them, still holding her strawberry.

"Don't you just love this party?" Kaylee asked. "Everything's so fancy, and there's some kind of hot cheese over there," she said, pointing over her shoulder at the buffet.

"It's not as good as last year," said Cabott.

"Oh really? What'd they have last year?" Kaylee asked.

"Standards," Cabott said acidly.

Kaylee's smile faltered.

After an uncomfortable pause, Banning's face brightened. "Who made your dress, Kaylee?"

The young woman's face lit up, her smile returning. "Oh, do you like it? When I saw the ruffles, I just couldn't resist."

Banning leaned in, her demeanor almost conspiratorial. "You ought to see to your girl."

" _Shuh muh?"_ Kaylee asked.

"Your girl," Banning repeated. "She's not very good. She made you a dress looks like you bought it in a store."

Kaylee's face began to flush, her smile completely gone, and for the first time since she had arrived she realized how completely out of her league she was amongst this crowd. "Oh," she said. "I didn't know."

From out of nowhere, an older man with white hair and a white mustache, wearing a golden sash and several medals upon his breast, stepped from behind Kaylee; he had heard the entire exchange. "Why Banning Miller, what a vision you are in your lovely dress," he said with a smile.

Banning beamed at the compliment, and her friends smiled as well.

"It must have taken a dozen slaves a dozen days to get you into that get-up." He paused, then added, "'Course, your daddy tells me it takes the space of a schoolboy's wink to get you out of it again."

Banning turned away slightly, her smile also gone, and she blushed furiously before lifting the hem of her dress and stalking off, her friends following closely behind.

Kaylee turned to the man, grinning furiously, and looked at him in awe.

"Forgive my rudeness," he said. "I cannot abide useless people."

"Kaylee," she said, offering her hand.

"Sir Alastair Murphy," the man said, shaking it. "And what brings you to the ball tonight, Kaylee?"

"I'm a ship's mechanic," she said. "I'm here with my Captain."

"A mechanic?" Murphy said. "Then I have some friends I absolutely have to introduce you to; most own factory farms and have a love of machines as well."

"Really?" said Kaylee as Murphy led her toward one side of the room. "I used to fix combines and harvesters as well as ground and air transport vehicles on Pollux, back before I signed onto _Serenity_."

 **O-O-O**

After Murphy had made the introductions, Kaylee became the center of attention of half a dozen wealthy land owners, all of whom had opinions on the various farm equipment they had invested in. Kaylee knew most of them well, and offered her opinions. Never before had she been so flattered; they were down-to-earth and unpretentious, despite many of them being nobles, and took her backwater dialect in stride, one of them even going so far as to beg her the honor of a dance before Murphy interrupted him and chastised him for speaking over Kaylee, who was waxing philosophical on a harvester with a critical design flaw.

Suddenly, Kaylee saw movement out of the corner of her eye, and watched as Mal recoiled his arm while another man was sent sprawling to the ground. Inara was standing with both of them. The music, courtesy of string quartet, came to a sudden and abrupt silence.

"Oh, dear," Kaylee sent. "I'm sorry everyone, but I have to go; I'll come back later if I can." She gave a little bow and headed over towards where Mal was standing.

"There has been a challenge," a bearded attendant called out to the crowd.

 **O-O-O**

Lost and forlorn, Kaylee wandered outside of the building, past the reporters, and onto the sidewalk; she had no money, and no pockets for any, so she began to walk the dozen or so miles back toward the docks. She would be a sweaty mess by then, and the dress would be ruined, the perfect end to a perfect night.

"'Ello, love," a voice sounded behind her. "Where's Captain Reynolds?"

Kaylee turned and faced Badger. "He's challenged someone to a duel. He's been put up in lodgings for the night."

"A swordfight?" Badger asked, and Kaylee nodded.

Badger whispered to one of several men that were standing with him, who hailed a cab. "Come with us, love. You can fill us in while we take you back to the ship."

 **O-O-O**

Badger had disappeared into the ship's airlock, the outer door, which was part of the raised ramp, still open. "A duel?" she heard as Book asked.

"With swords?" Wash continued.

One of the men prodded her with the barrel of his assault rifle, and they all filed into the airlock; the inner doors were open, and she could see half the crew congregated around Badger as they spoke.

She heard Jayne cock his shotgun on the balcony overhead.

"Jayne," Zoe said. "I wouldn't."

"Why not?" Jayne asked.

Zoe gestured toward Kaylee, who was now being held at gunpoint by four men. One of them pulled back the bolt on his rifle.

Kaylee raised her hand in a curt wave. "Hi," she said.

 **O-O-O**

Kaylee made her way back to her bunk the next morning. It had been a long night, with all of them being held against their wills to prevent them from rescuing the Captain; at least they had allowed her back to her bunk to change out of her dress and into work clothes, and then they had all sat around in the cargo bay for the duration of the night.

Not long after dawn, Mal had eventually returned, wounded and bloodied, but alive. Badger and his men departed, but only after Mal had confirmed that he had secured the job with Warrick Harrow.

Kaylee climbed down into her bunk, and lay down on her bed; she needed a nap after a long, sleepless night, but first she turned on the AR4 player mounted on the wall, and listened to some of the classical music that had been played at the ball. She looked to the foot of her bed, where the beautiful pink dress she had worn was hanging against the wall, and it would stay there, in its place of honor, for as long as she remained on _Serenity_.

She rubbed her full belly, thought of her wonderful, exciting night with the high society and nobility of Persephone, and smiled.

 **(Author's Note: "Shindig" is one of my favorite episodes; it has everything: playful banter, River's insanity, Inara trying to save Mal (twice, and once at the cost of her own freedom), an elaborate dance, and a wonderful swordfight in which Mal is hopelessly outclassed, yet manages to win anyway. Any story I wrote about it could not begin to do it justice, but one thing that always stood out in my mind was that dress, and how we never got to see Mal present it to Kaylee. That was a story that begged to be told, and now here it is, in Deleted Scenes. Incidentally, the scene with Kaylee and the mean girls, as well as the introduction of Murphy, was Verbatim from Episode 4, "Shindig".)**

 **(Next Time: Milk And Hay - As Mal recuperates from his injuries from his sword fight, the crew deals with the realities of caring for a herd of cattle during their three-week trek from Persephone to Jianying.)**


	30. Milk And Hay

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 30: Milk And Hay  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **" _Feihua_. Milk and hay, three times a day, fed to 'em by beautiful women."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – Episode 5: "Safe"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 4, "Shindig", and Episode 5, "Safe".)**

As promised, before midnight, the night of the duel, several trucks pulled up to the berth at which _Serenity_ was docked. Under cover of darkness, Mal, his wounds now stitched and bandaged, lowered the ramp. Once it was down, several men lined up, each carrying a bale of hay. Mal looked at the trucks and his mouth dropped open.

They were going to be transporting a herd of cattle to Jianying. _Gorram_ cattle.

Mal pointed at the door to Shuttle 2. "Portside hatch, upper level. Store the hay in there," he said.

The men made several dozen trips, carrying bale after bale of hay, and boxes of formula for the cattle. "Just mix with water," one of the men had said to Mal and Zoe, "There are four bottles in there. Written instructions on the care and feeding inside this box."

"Shouldn't be a problem," Mal said. "I grew up on a cattle ranch; this is old hat to me, although I have to say I ain't never transported a herd through the Black before."

The men laughed at this, and once the shuttle was full of hay, as if it was a barn, they began to lead the cattle off the trucks one by one, up the ramp and into the cargo bay. All told there were forty head, and after Mal signed the receipt, they headed out, then Mal closed the door and he and Zoe picked their way through the herd and up to the balcony overlooking the bay.

"Tell Wash to take us out of the world," Mal said, "and see if Kaylee has any of her homemade wine ready to drink." Five minutes later, Zoe returned with a large glass jug and a pair of mugs, then set about her other duties. Mal sat down with the wine as the ship took off for Jianying, pouring himself a mug and taking as sip.

Inara came up to Mal and sat down, listening to the lowing of the cattle for a while before Mal poured a cup for Inara and offered it to her.

Inara took a sip, and they drank in silence, Mal filling his mug a second time.

"Thank you for the wine," Inara said. "It's very… fresh."

"To Kaylee," Mal said, raising his mug, "and her inter-engine fermentation system." They clinked mugs together. Inara chuckled.

"Are you in pain?" Inara asked.

"Absolutely," Mal said. "I got stabbed, you know, right here." He pulled up the right side of his shirt to show off a bandage that was still bleeding through.

Inara held up her hand. "I saw," she said, and Mal lowered his shirt again.

"Don't care much for fancy parties," he said. "Too rough."

"It wasn't entirely a disaster," Inara countered.

"I got stabbed!" Mal exclaimed, "Right here!" Mal pointed to the right side of his shirt.

"You also lined up exciting new crime," Inara said.

Mal reflected for a moment. "It's good to have cargo," he said, then paused before continuing. "Makes us a target for every other scavenger out there, of course, but sometimes that's fun, too."

Inara thought for a long moment, then turned to Mal and spoke. "I am grateful, you know, for the ill-conceived and high-handed attempt to defend my honor, although I didn't want you to."

"Gracious as that is," Mal said, "as I look back, probably should have stayed out of your world."

"My world," Inara mused, "if it is that." She paused. "I wasn't going to stay, you know."

Mal looked at her as she looked down at her wine. "Yeah? Why's that?"

"Mmm. Someone needs to keep Kaylee out of trouble," Inara said, "and all my things are here." She looked at Mal. "Besides, why would I want to leave _Serenity?"_

Mal looked her in the eye. "Can't think of a reason," he said, then looked down at the cows and took a sip of his wine as the cattle resumed their lowing.

 **O-O-O**

Three times a day, Kaylee would bring down buckets of water, which she would use to fill the bottles, then pour in the milk powder, and attach the nipples to the top, shaking them up. Then Kaylee, Inara, and Zoe would come to the bottoms of the stairs to the upper deck and feed the cows the required amount of hay, then let them drink from the bottles. When the bottles were empty, the work stopped while Kaylee refilled them, and when buckets were devoid of water, Kaylee would head for the galley to get more.

The hardest part of the job was figuring out which of the cows they had already fed, and which ones they hadn't. In the end, Zoe, Wash and Jayne built a wall of cargo containers, and as each of the women finished feeding each cow, they would loop a rope around its neck and lead it to the other end of the bay, on the other side of the wall. This way, they ensured no cow was denied a meal, and they could easily tell when the job was finished.

Then, once a day, Jayne would pick his way through the cargo bay with a shovel and a large plastic can, and scoop up each cow patty he could find that had been left behind by the cattle. When the can was full, usually every other day, Jayne and Zoe would suit up, take the can into the airlock, then depressurize it, opening the outer door and spacing the waste. Occasionally, the bottom of the can would freeze into one large clump before Jayne could dump it all out, and they'd have to use the shovel to break it up into clumps, which Jayne would then pry out of the can, watching with satisfaction as the manure floated off into the interplanetary void. He laughed to himself and imagined another ship passing through an asteroid shower of frozen cow flops.

After four days, the entire ship smelled like a cow pasture, and some on the crew weren't shy in saying so. Mal smiled at this, and told everyone at the table that the smell reminded him of his childhood. He then informed the crew that following the completion of their job on Jianying, the ship would be making a brief stop on Shadow.

River, for her part, never went near the cattle while they were onboard the ship, which was a topic of discussion for many aboard, who expected her to be fascinated by the bovines. However, while Simon noted that River had drawn several pictures of cows and cattle herded together, she never once went into the cargo bay to even look at the animals.

The Captain had instituted quiet hours on the ship at all times to avoid spooking the cattle, so River spent most of her time in the passenger dorm when she wasn't eating, or in the infirmary, submitting herself for testing by her brother Simon, who was laboring late into the night over data on the ship's medical computers to try and figure out what was wrong with her, what had been done to her at the Academy, and how he could reverse its effects so that she could at least sleep through the night without the constant terrors that would wake her every few hours.

Despite the fact that it wasn't her responsibility, Inara enjoyed her work tending to the cattle. It gave her the opportunity to experience something she otherwise never would have done, and the animals were enormous and beautiful in their own way. She felt an affection and sympathy for them as she fed them from the bottle that bordered on the maternal. Besides, being underway for three weeks, and on their way to a backwater where there were no respectable clients to see, she literally had nothing else to do but meditate and pray in her shuttle.

The cows were docile and caused no trouble during the journey, but they appeared to be confused by the heavier gravity on board the ship, accustomed as they were to the much lower gravity of Persephone. The ship's grav thrust was set to the same as Shadow's by the Captain's decree, which was just a fraction higher than Earth-That-Was, so, especially during the opening days of the journey, when they were not being fed, the cattle spent much of their time laying down on the floor of the cargo bay.

About a week into the trip, the ship was contacted by Sir Warrick Harrow, who sent them a message wishing them a pleasant and uncomplicated journey, and included a file in his transmission, which he said was a Capture of the duel Mal had fought against Atherton Wing.

Smiling, the Captain spoke over the intercom to call the entire crew to come to the Bridge to watch the vid.

 **(Author's Note: A short chapter today, and not a terribly exciting one, I'll admit, but the entire journey to Jianying with the cows happened off-camera in the series, and it struck me that it might be interesting to explore the logistics of caring for the animals as they travelled. Where was the hay stored? Who, exactly fed the cattle? All we know is that they were fed by "beautiful women", according to Episode 5, "Safe", I always wondered if Inara was one of those women. I also wondered what happened to the waste, as there clearly wasn't enough of it on the deck at the beginning of "Safe" to account for three weeks in space. The scene with Mal and Inara sharing wine while overlooking the cows is verbatim from Episode 4, "Shindig". Incidentally, I have had several fans write in either in PMs or even in reviews, that feeding a grown bovine milk would cause an infection or even kill the animal. One even suggested that Mal's assertion that the animals were fed milk and hay three times a day was merely sales talk, but I countered that experienced ranchers like the Grange Brothers would know that an animal like a grown cow should not be fed milk. We have the Whedonvserse to thank for the discrepancy, and, like it or not, it was written into the series, and as such, there it will stay, right or wrong. It may not be right, but it's right for Whedon, and so the fandom will include it, no matter its accuracy. I apologize for those that are bothered by this, but I think there are even more purists that would roast me alive if I wrote it out.)**

 **(Next Time: Mr. Universe - Still on their way to Jianying, Mal sells a Capture of his sword fight to Mr. Universe for publication on the Cortex. Inara seeks closure with Atherton Wing.)**


	31. Mr Universe

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 31: Mr. Universe  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"They can't stop the Signal, Mal. They can never stop the Signal."  
-Mr. Universe – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 4, "Shindig", and Episode 5, "Safe".)**

The vid from the Capture zoomed in on Mal and Atherton as the young man knocked Mal to the ground and stomped down hard on Mal's sword, breaking it. Atherton raised his sword, the blade pointed downward towards Mal, ready to drive it into his chest at any moment.

"Atherton, wait!" called out Inara, in the background of the picture's frame. "I'll stay here, exclusive to you, just let him live."

Inside the Bridge of _Serenity_ , as the assembled crew watched the Capture on the vid screen, Kaylee put her hand on Inara's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

Atherton hesitated, and turned his head to face Inara. Mal took advantage of Atherton's indecision, and knocked the young man's sword away, getting to his feet despite a deep wound in his side, and punched him square in the left cheek, still holding the hilt. Atherton went sprawling to the ground, a cut on his face bleeding profusely.

" _Jingsai!_ " exclaimed Wash.

Next, Mal used his boot to kick the broken blade into the air, whereupon he caught it and sent it spinning toward Atherton as he got to his feet. It caught the man just below his right shoulder, and he cried out as it penetrated deep into his flesh.

Several of the people in the Birdge clapped at that point. On the screen, Mal moved in as Atherton yanked out the blade with a grunt and tossed it aside, and decked him again, his hand still holding the hilt. Atherton dropped his sword and fell to the ground. Mal picked up the blade and aimed it at Atherton, who was flat on his back.

"He's down," said someone off-camera. A cheer went up in the Bridge.

A stocky man with a goatee and an expensive outfit, the man they had been told was the owner of their current cargo of cows, Sir Warrick Harrow, stepped up to Mal. "You have to finish it, lad." A pause as he stepped from one of Mal's sides to the other. "You have to finish it! For a man to lie there, beaten and yet breathing…"

Inara began to make her way over to Mal as well. Harrow continued, "It makes him a coward!"

"It's humiliation," offered Inara.

"Sure," said Mal, still menacing Wing with the sword as he clutched at the wound in his right side with his left hand. "It would be humiliating, having to lie there while the better man refuses to spill your blood."

In the Bridge, Inara smiled to herself.

On the screen: "Mercy is the mark of a great man," Mal said, then poked Atherton in the belly with the point of his sword, causing Wing to cry out in pain and fear. "Guess I'm just a good man."

Laughter rang through the Bridge. Mal poked Wing in the belly again, causing him to cry out once more. "Well, I'm alright." He tossed the sword to the ground and turned to walk away, Inara's arm protectively around his shoulder.

More laughter on the Bridge. None of them were prepared for what came next, though.

"Inara!" called out Wing. "Inara!"

"You've lost her, lad, be gracious," Harrow said to Atherton, who was still on the ground.

"You set this up, whore!" he exclaimed as he began to get to his feet with the help of his Second. "After I bought and paid for you. I should have uglied you up so no one else'd want you!"

Mal and Inara turned. "See how I'm not punching him?" Mal asked. "I think I've grown."

"Well get ready to starve!" Atherton cried out, then growled: "I'll see to it you never work again."

Inara was clearly angry now as she turned to fully face Atherton, which was a rare sight for her. "That's not how it works," she said. "You see, you've earned a black mark in the Client Registry. No Companion is going to contract with you _ever_ _again._ " She then turned back to help Mal on his way.

"You'll have to rely on your winning personality to get women," said Harrow. "God help you."

Barely visible on the bottom of the screen, Wing spat, and the vid ended.

Applause and laughter, and even some hooting rang through the Bridge. "That was great!" Kaylee exclaimed. "Cap, you were wonderful!"

"It was awful nice of Sir Warrick to forward this file to us; good thing he had one of his manservants record the event," Mal said.

"And it'll settle the matter of Atherton's guilt once and for all," Inara said. "According to the Guild, he's contesting his black mark in the Client Registry. Seems he just can't get by without Companion comfort."

The crew began to mill about, slowly meandering off towards the galley; dinner was coming up relatively soon. "Now comes the question of what to do with this vid," Mal said to Wash.

"What do we do with it?" Wash asked. "We play it at family reunions and on cold, rainy Sunday afternoons. What else would we do with it?"

Mal smiled. "We sell it to Mr. Universe," Mal said.

Wash grinned and nodded, then began typing into the keyboard on his panel.

Mr. Universe was renown throughout the system as an information broker and hacker who was responsible for broadwaving some of the most viral videos ever produced. They had dealt with him before, and had sold some of the more violent videos of their escapades to him, turning a tidy profit in the process.

Wash and Mr. Universe went way back, all the way to their days together in flight school. Wash had been in first place for most of their term there, with Mr. Universe – Jeffrey Horowitz – suddenly coming from behind to rank at the top and beat out Wash for Valedictorian. Wash confronted Horowitz, who fessed up to hacking the school's systems and changing his grades, and begged Wash not to expose him. In exchange, he promised Wash that he would always have free access to Horowitz's services as a hacker and information broker, a promise that had come in handy for the crew from time to time.

Mr. Universe's face came up on the screen after a few seconds. "Hoban! You old rascal! How's that wife of yours? Still pining away for me, I hope."

"In your dreams," Wash said. "Got something for you. A duel on Persephone with the Captain and a rich dandy. You'll love the way it ends."

Wash hit the upload on the file, and after a few minutes, Mr. Universe began to watch the video, his eyes lighting up at various points. "All the best violence. You guys always bring me the best violence."

When Inara blacklisted Wing, Mr. Universe laughed. "Oh, this is definitely going to go viral. And it's going to be big. People love watching rich _hundans_ get their comeuppance."

"Standard rates?" Mal asked.

"Nah," said Mr. Universe. "I love it so much, I'm gonna give you brigands fifty percent of the cut, twenty-five platinum up front."

"Done," said Mal. The money would come in handy.

"I'll upload it to U-Tube in less than five minutes, and we should start to see hits in less than an hour. I'll transfer the coin to you tomorrow morning, if you don't mind."

"We're two weeks out from our dest," said Mal. "Ain't got nowhere to spend the money until then, so that'll be fine."

"While I've got you on the line, you can be the first to congratulate me," said Mr. Universe, who leaned out of the way, offering a view of a woman with long blonde hair in the background. "My lovebot Lenore and I are getting married next week. I haven't told anyone yet."

"Congratulations," said Mal, trying not to roll his eyes.

" _Mazel tov!_ " exclaimed Wash. "Who's paying for the wedding? Her father?"

"Cute," said Mr. Universe, and waved. "Catch you guys on the flip side; don't forget to think of me if you Capture any of your heists. If it bleeds, it leads, and the Signal must be fed."

"You got it," said Mal, and rang off.

Wash tuned in to Mr. Universe's U-Tube channel on the Cortex, and while they waited, a Fruity Oaty Bar commercial came up, followed by a list of the latest videos. After Wash refreshed the page a few times, their vid appeared. "'Watch as a ruffian ship's Captain challenges a rich Persephone dandy to a duel,'" Wash said. "'The Companion they both love watches on in horror. Has a satisfying ending you won't believe.' Not a bad description."

"I take issue with him saying I love Inara," Mal said.

"It sells," said Wash. "It'll get us hits."

"I suppose," grumbled Mal.

Wash hit a button, and the video began to play.

 **O-O-O**

Back in her shuttle, Inara called Atherton.

His face soured when he saw Inara's face on the screen. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Good morning, Atherton. I wanted to be the first to inform you that we now have a Capture of the duel, and I intend to forward it to the Guild. Once they see it, I'm confident that your appeal will be denied."

"So, you called to gloat?" he asked bitterly.

"Not at all," she said. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry things worked out the way they did. You were kind and generous to me, but in the end, you treated me like your property. You maligned my honor, disrespected me, and finally, failing that, you threatened me. You deserve this, and have no one to blame but yourself. But the fact is, I saved your life when Captain Reynolds was well within his rights to run you through and kill you. And I did that because deep down, I liked you, and you were there for me at a very difficult time in my life. I won't forget that, or forget you. And for what it's worth, I never set you up. My offer to you was genuine, and the only way I knew to save Captain Reynolds."

Atherton looked sad, and humbled. "I'll miss you, _baobei_ ," he said. "I'm sorry I called you a whore, and I apologize for threatening you. I was just bitter for having lost the duel, and you. _Zhufu ni, baobei._ "

" _Zhufu ni,"_ Inara repeated, and disconnected the call.

A few seconds later, there was a knock at her open door. " _Qing jin_ ," Inara said softly, and Mal entered.

"I just wanted you to know that Wash put a copy of the vid on the ship's server's public segment. You can send it to the Guild at your convenience." He looked at the face frozen on the screen.

"Atherton Wing, again?" Mal asked. "Why are you talking to that _hundan_ for?"

Inara covered the Cortex screen with a black drape, like that which lined the entire interior of her shuttle. "We had some unfinished business," she said.

"He offering you money to remove the blot from his record or something?"

"No," Inara said. "Nothing like that. I just wanted him to know why I wanted him to live."

"And why was that?" Mal asked. "You never did tell me."

"I did tell you, during our dance at the ball; I liked him. I didn't want to see either of you die. Not over my honor. I'm not worth it."

"You're wrong, Inara," Mal said. "Your job may not be worthy of respect, but you are."

Inara blushed. "What did I tell you about acting like a gentleman, Captain?"

"Don't worry," Mal said. "I don't intend to make a habit of it."

"Good," Inara said. "It doesn't suit you, anyway." She turned her back to him and began to undo her dress, which was her way of telling Mal that the conversation was over, and that he was to leave. The Captain, always sensitive to Inara's modesty, beat a hasty retreat from her shuttle.

Inara zipped up the side of her dress again and smiled, pulling down the drape over the Cortex screen so that she could send the vid to the Guild as soon as possible.

 **(Author's Note: Sometimes these stories take me to places in the end that I never anticipated when I start writing them. I always knew I wanted to do at least one Mr. Universe story, to touch on the backstory for the character, and his history with Wash at flight school, as described in the novel, but I never expected to find myself describing closure and even a half-hearted apology from Atherton for his behavior. Perhaps there's hope for him after all. And finally, for those that didn't recognize it, the video footage of the duel, and its dialogue, is verbatim from the duel scene in Episode 4, "Shindig".)**

 **(Next Time: Folks Like A Man Of God - Book dodges questions about his past as he recovers from his gunshot wound, but ends up opening up to Simon. Simon learns the truth about the Battle of Serenity Valley, and the meaning behind the name of the ship.)**


	32. Folks Like A Man Of God

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 32: Folks Like A Man Of God  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"No they don't; men of God make people feel guilty and judged. That's not what I saw."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – Episode 5, "Safe"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 5, "Safe", and Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds".)**

Three weeks later, _Serenity_ was long done with settling the cattle on Jianying, and was on its way to the Murphy System, bound for Shadow, which made several people at the dinner table nervous. The Captain assured them that the ship's radiation shield would be more than up to the task of protecting everyone, however, and as far as Mal was concerned, the matter was settled.

Shepherd Book was joining them at the table for the first time since he had been shot in the chest on Jianying, the victim of a stray bullet during a gunfight between their clients, the Grange Brothers, and local law enforcement. The Granges had haggled them down on the cost of the cattle, dropping the price from thirty platinum a head to twenty five after first offering twenty, and then threatening to walk away entirely.

Fortunately for them, for Sir Warrick, and for Badger, the local Sheriff and his deputies had come to arrest the Granges for murder while the older Grange had been counting out coins from a cloth sack. He had dropped the sack at the announcement of the arrival of the Lawmen, sending platinum coins spilling everywhere. After the gunfight was over, they had discovered that the Shepherd had been shot, severely, and while Jayne ran to the ship at the other end of the corral for the stretcher, Mal had picked up every stray coin and returned it to the sack, meaning that everyone would get their full cut.

No less unfortunate was the fact that Simon and his sister had been kidnapped by hill people, who were known to kidnap artisans and others who would be useful to their community. The encounter had ended with the siblings almost being burned at the stake, because River's ability to read minds, which was suspected by a several on the crew, but never really confirmed, had been misidentified by the religious zealots of the hills as the powers of a witch.

Mal, Zoe, and Jayne had arrived just in the nick of time to save them from a fiery death, but prior to that, they had been abandoned, as the ship left, Simon watching in anguish as _Serenity_ took off without them, despite the Captain's promise to the exact opposite not even two hours before.

What Simon didn't know at the time was that Book's emergency necessitated his evacuation from the moon to seek medical attention elsewhere, the results of which had been a topic of much discussion among the crew. Despite the Captain's initial unwillingness, Inara had convinced Mal to seek out help from the _I.A.V. Magellan_ , an Alliance cruiser. The officer that came aboard asked some preliminary questions about the nature of the ship and her emergency, with Book laid out on a stretcher in the cargo bay, nearest the airlock.

The officer flatly explained that they were not a hospital for use by just anyone, and their services would not be granted to _Serenity_ or her crew. Then, as Zoe and Mal watched, Book did something that stunned everyone that heard about it. He asked them to check his ident card, which the officer did after his underling retrieved it from Book's left pocket and placed it in a reader, looking over the display.

"Get this man to the infirmary at once," he said seriously.

The Alliance had saved Book's life; his wounds were so dire that he would have surely died on his way to any other med help in the area, so the fact that Book's ident card convinced them to save his life was both a miracle and a mystery.

Jayne was the first one to broach the subject at the table on this night. "So, preacher, what was on that ident card that the Alliance would help you?"

Book smiled ruefully. "As I explained to the Captain," he said, "I am a Shepherd. Folks like a man of God."

"And I say that's a pile of _go-se_ ," Jayne said. "They wouldn't have cared if you were Saint Theresa or Saint Diana themselves. They would have let you bleed out on the cargo bay floor. You Alliance?"

Book said nothing.

"Are you Alliance?" Zoe repeated, an angry look on her face.

Book sighed. "It's a long, long story, but no, I'm not Alliance, Zoe," Book replied.

Mal had already tried to pry this story out of the Shepherd, to no avail, so he let his underlings duke it out with Book.

"You knew who Adelai Niska was, you know a powerful lot about crime and criminal activities, as well as the workings of the _gorram_ Alliance. If you ain't one of them, then what the rutting hell are you, exactly?" Jayne asked.

"Let's just say that I wasn't always a Shepherd, and leave it at that, Jayne," Book said. "Maybe someday I'll tell my story, but not today."

The table settled into an uncomfortable silence.

Kaylee broke the tension. " _Zhen mei naixing de Fozu!_ If the Shepherd was Alliance, he would never have knocked out Dobson, would have freed him from captivity, or would have turned in Simon and River long ago, or turned us in for any number of the jobs we've pulled since he's been aboard," she said. "He's good people. I know that in my heart that he's one of us, no matter what he mighta been before he came aboard."

Book was grateful for Kaylee's words, as well as the fact that that seemed to settle the matter for everyone present.

 **O-O-O**

Later, as Simon was changing Book's dressing in the infirmary, the Doctor took up the matter again. "So, do you want to tell your Doctor why you're still walking the worlds?"

Book sighed. The past was weighing on him heavily, and he had to tell someone. "Do you believe in Doctor/Patient Confidentiality, Simon?"

"Of course I do," Simon said. "I swore the Hippocratic Oath, as all Doctors do when they are inducted into the fraternity of medical men. Confidentiality may not be an explicit part of the oath, but it is part of the culture."

"Then close the door, and if you promise not to tell anyone, including your sister and the Captain, I will tell you my story."

Simon stepped over to the door, sliding both sides of the entrance closed, then locked it from the inside before returning to Book's side.

"Ironically," Book began, "I was born and spent my childhood on Jianying…"

Simon listened for nearly half an hour as the Shepherd spoke without a pause or a break. When he was done, he didn't allow for any questions, and instead asked Simon, "You never did tell me: what made you pick this ship?"

Simon chuckled. "It looked disreputable."

Book laughed. "Well, you're not without critical judgment. You didn't happen to look at the name, I suppose?"

"What, _Serenity,_ right?" Simon asked. "That's a joke."

"I believe it's not," Book said.

" _Shuh muh?_ " Simon asked.

"If you want to get the lay of the land here, maybe what you lack isn't psychological insight, might be its history."

 **O-O-O**

Later, in his dorm, Simon pulled out his digital encyclopedia, pulled out the red History Rod, and slid it down into the reader.

"Battle of Serenity Valley," he said simply to the device, then tapped an entry on the screen, which began to display photos and a block of text. "Read."

"In the war to unite the planets," the encyclopedia began to read aloud as Simon washed his hands in the room's sink, "the Battle of Serenity was among the most devastating, and decisive. Located on Hera, the Valley was considered a key position by both sides, and was bitterly fought over. The Independent Faction, with sixteen brigades and twenty air-tank squadrons, held the valley against the Alliance forces for nearly two months, until superior numbers-"

"What does it say under 'bloodbath'?" Zoe asked, opening the door and poking her head in.

"I was…" Simon began, then addressed the device. "Stop," he said, and the playback ceased. "I was just trying-"

"We're not in there," Zoe interrupted, stepping into the room and leaving the door wide open. "The book, I mean. We're not generals or diplomats. We didn't turn the tide of glory's history, or… whatever that thing is supposed to spew."

"Well, you know what they say," Simon offered. "History is programmed by the winners."

"About half a million people lay dead on that field at day's end," she said. "About a third of them 'winners'."

Simon stared at her for a long moment, speechless.

"Can you imagine that smell?" she asked, a morbidly bemused look upon her face. "Can you imagine piling up the bodies of soldiers – of friends – to build a wall 'cause you got no cover?"

"Mal was there with you." Simon didn't ask, but simply stated his assumption.

"He was my Sergeant," Zoe said. "Commanded thirty-odd grunts. Five days in, there were so many officers dead, he commanded _two thousand_. Kept us together, kept us fighting, kept us sane. By the time the fighting was over, he had maybe four hundred still intact."

Simon let out a long breath. "That's a hell of a-"

"I said the _fighting…_ was over," Zoe interrupted again. "But you see, even though we had surrendered, and they had put us in pens, they basically left us there. No food, no med help. There was simply none to be had. The wounded and sick, and near to mad as can still walk and talk, both sides left us there… While they negotiated the peace. For a week."

She paused for a long moment, then spoke again. "While we kept dying."

Another long pause as she reflected on her memory of the experience. "When they finally sent in med ships, we had about a hundred and fifty left. And of our original platoon, just me."

There was another long pause, the longest one yet. Simon was still speechless. "Mercy, forgiveness, trust. Those were things we left behind there. What he has now is the ship. The ship, and us on it. You got Kaylee through her troubles, and the Captain did right by you. He won't kill unless he's got no other option."

"And what if he had told you to kill me, back then?" Simon asked.

"I'd have killed you," she answered patly.

"And if he orders you to kill me now?" he asked again.

"Then I kill you."

"Well, it's good to know where I stand," Simon said. Zoe, for her part, got up to leave.

"If the battle was so horrible," Simon asked, "why'd he name the ship after it?"

"Once you've been in Serenity, you never leave," was Zoe's answer, simply put. She turned back to leave again and stepped into the doorway. "You just learn to live there."

"Zoe?" Simon asked, stopping her. "What is so significant about Shadow? Why are we going there if there's no work to be had, and why do you seem so disturbed by the prospect?"

Zoe didn't turn around. "The Captain doesn't talk about his life before the war, not ever. He grew up on Shadow. His mother had a cattle ranch there. When the war was over, he intended to sell it for the money to buy a ship. In the end, that was impossible, because of what the Alliance did to the planet; he ended up having to fund his purchase of this ship by robbing Alliance-insured banks and armored cars. I don't know why the Captain is going, but he wants to go. And I think that what he sees there will change him, and not for the better."

Zoe didn't wait for another question. She stepped out of the passenger dorms, leaving it to Simon to close the door, which he did.

Simon had never been in war, never seen a battlefield in his life. When they were children, he and River used to pretend they were fighting the Independents. Now he grimaced at the sad irony of making light of such a brutal and horrific circumstance, and, most of all, for choosing the wrong side.

 **(Author's Note: While it's not canon that Book ever told anyone his backstory, I figured that if he were to tell anyone, it would be Simon. Both men of the cloth and Doctors are bound by an oath of secrecy when it comes to those they are helping, and I figure that that, along with Book's desire to help Simon protect River, binds them together in a way no one else on the ship is bound, save for Simon and River through their blood, and Mal and Zoe, also through blood, but blood of a different kind. The exchange with Simon and Zoe at the end, along with Simon's exhcange with Book and his subsequent use of the encyclopedia, is a mostly-verbatim re-envisioning of a deleted scene from the pilot Episode, "Serenity". I took advantage of artistic license and made some alterations to allow for the passage of time, as well as to prevent the content of the scene from contradicting some of the things I had written in previous chapters, as I had only first watched this deleted scene a few days ago.)**

 **(Next Time: Echoes and Dust - Mal and the crew returns to Mal's homeworld of Shadow, now a radioactive cinder.)**


	33. Echoes And Dust

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 33: Echoes And Dust  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **My mama had a ranch back on Shadow, where I'm from. Ran cattle, mostly; wasn't nobody ran 'em harder or smarter. Used to tell me, 'Don't brand the cattle, brand the buyer; he's the one likely to stray'."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 5, "Safe", and Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds".)**

"Captain," Wash said over the intercom, "we've entered orbit around Shadow. I think you're going to want to see this."

Within a few minutes, the entire crew was gathered on the Bridge; the planet below was shrouded in the dense cloud cover of a nuclear winter. There were some splotches where the sun was able to break through the cloud cover of the Rim planet, and what shone through was not the greens and earth tones of ranches and farms as there were before the war, but black and grey.

Mal had a peculiar look upon his face. "Take us down, Wash. Use the coordinates I gave you."

Wash, who ordinarily would offer a joke or a quip, could feel the gravity of the situation. "Yes, sir, Captain. Heading down."

In a few minutes, after the flames of re-entry had stopped buffeting the port windows of the Bridge, and they broke through the cloud cover, they could see the sweeping vista of Shadow.

"My God," said Wash.

"My thoughts, exactly," said Zoe, turning away from the view.

The entire landscape was blackened and scorched, as the entire planet had been blanketed by cobalt-fusion bombs in the last year of the war. There had never been any cities on Shadow, nor any military installations, but the peaceful planet had been the bread basket of the Rim, and had supplied many of the Independent worlds with food, as much of the planet, which had been terraformed a little over a century ago had been converted for use by farms and ranches almost exclusively. The Alliance had wanted to make an example of the planet, to show their resolve against their enemy while simultaneously strangling their food supply, and this was the result.

Shadow originally had slightly over 13,000 inhabitants, several thousand of whom had departed years earlier to join the war effort. In all his dealings and travels since the war, Mal had yet to encounter a single other survivor from Shadow. If he ever did find one, he would give them a warm and special greeting, for the survivors of Shadow were a rare and unique brethren. What had been done to this world was a tragedy, an atrocity, and one that the Alliance did not trumpet to their citizens, lest the people lose faith or respect for their leaders in the Parliament.

Wash brought the boat in for a landing, and Mal could tell from the blackened ground's features that they were in the pasture just outside of the barns and main house, but there was nothing left but black and patches of grey ash, which blew around in the wind. As the landing struts settled, a crackling vibration rippled through the ships as the surface of the planet beneath the ship cracked and splintered.

"Let's suit up," Mal said to Zoe and Jayne, and the trio headed for the cargo bay, leaving the others to admire the breadth and depth of the devastation on the planet outside of the Bridge's windows.

Once suited up, Mal opened up a locker and pulled out a shovel and a dull metal cylinder. The trio entered the airlock and sealed the outer doors, then opened the forecouple door, opting to leave the ramp up and expose as little of the interior of the ship to the fallout outside as they could.

"Mal," Wash said over the comm, "we have a storm front coming in; be here in roughly thirty-five minutes. We'll want to be airborne by then, or else the exterior hull will be contaminated by the fallout in the rain."

"Understood," said Mal, and led his companions down the steps at the base of the doorway.

The ground crackled beneath their feet, and Mal quickly realized that they were walking on a sheet of black glass, as the fusion bombs had melted the rich soil of Shadow into a thick, crystalline sheet during the explosions, which had been hotter than the surface of the sun. Zoe pulled out her Capture and began to shoot video of the vistas and the ship. Jayne pulled out a small device from a pouch on his belt and turned it on. "Oxygen's okay, but radiations over a solid hundred rads per hour. Temperature's a good sixteen degrees below zero, with a wind chill of neg twenty-four. Pretty rough for a nuclear winter."

"And this is the heart of summer, and midday; suits should protect us, and radiation shielding will protect the ship," Zoe said, "but without protection, fatal exposure in three to five hours."

Mal looked around for almost a full minute. " _Taikong suoyou de xingqiu saijin wo de pigu!_ " he exclaimed before placing the cylinder down on the ground, then broke the surface of the glass with the shovel, using his magnetic boots to dig the shovel's spade completely into the ground. He had spent his childhood here, and before the war had started, he had intended to spend the rest of his life tending to his mother's ranch and raising the cattle she had housed and protected; the Alliance had shattered that dream, just like it had destroyed so many of his dreams; they had obliterated the dreams, even the very lives, of millions and millions of innocent people.

Suddenly, he wished to be in an Alliance-friendly bar again, flying his colors and cracking skulls. He daydreamed of lining up the Alliance Parliament and killing them, one by one, starting with blowing off their kneecaps and taking them each apart, piece by piece. His rage, while well hidden, was threatening to spill out and flood the whole scorched countryside with a blood-red surge of hatred and bitterness. He wanted to scream, and considered turning off his radio so he could do it in privacy, but here in atmo, there was a chance that the others still might hear him, so he wisely chose to bottle it up. He'd have time to mourn later.

With a sigh, he dumped the shovelful of black, broken glass onto the ground in front of him, and began to pick through it, setting aside decent chunks that were the size of his fist or smaller.

"Cullet," said Jayne. "Black cullet."

"Black what?" Zoe asked.

Jayne's suit's comm crackled for a second, broadcasting silence briefly before he spoke. "Back home, where I lived, we had a glass making factory in town that produced drinking glasses, coffee mugs, glass steins, plates, bowls and the like. Every so often, they'd scrape out the molten glass from the furnaces that had dripped down, and let it cool off into chunks. It was called 'cullet', and was used either as landfill, or sold to residents and tourists to decorate their yards or homes. It can be powerful pretty, specially with swirls of color. This cullet is ominous, but ain't so dangerous that it loses its beauty."

Mal held one up in his hand and looked at it closely through the faceplate of his suit. "It is pretty, but deadly." He put the cullet down, then unscrewed the top of the metal cylinder, which was a lead jar, and began loading it up with as much of the black glass as he could fit into it, then replaced the top.

"You brought us here for a souvenir, sir?" Zoe asked Mal.

"That," Mal replied, "and to see with my own eyes what had happened to my home. My mama was buried here, somewhere, but her body's probably vaporized. Even if it weren't, ain't no way we'd have enough time to dig her up, nor any way to transport a contaminated body safely."

Zoe closed her eyes for a long moment, then opened them again. Her Capture was zoomed in on Mal as he picked up his shovel, the lead cylinder under his left arm. With a sigh, he took a long look around, navigating a circle in place as he examined the smooth, undulating hills and prairies of sterile black glass, and tried to imagine the buildings and animals that had once been there.

"I've seen enough," Mal said, and headed back towards the ship, stopping only to bang the spade of the shovel against the side of the craft to shake off any contaminated debris on it. Once they were all inside, Mal closed the forecouple door, then depressurized the 'lock, removing any contaminated air or fallout, before opening the inner doors and allowing them inside. Kaylee, Inara, Simon, Book, and River were waiting for them in the cargo bay.

"How was it out there?" Kaylee asked.

"Horrible," Jayne said. "What a _gorram_ waste, all that rich farmland, ruined forever. That planet will be a black rock until the sun explodes, now. Even after the radiation dissipates and the fallout settles, all the topsoil's fused. There's ain't no comin' back from that."

Mal was out of his suit now, and Zoe was not far behind. Jayne unlatched the helmet of his suit, which was non-standard to due his size, and a yellow color, and placed the helmet in the locker.

Inara put a reassuring hand on Mal's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Mal. That can't have been easy."

Mal was stoic. "It is what it is. One day, there'll be a reckoning for this and a thousand other atrocities committed by the Alliance during the war."

Book looked away for a moment. "Yes, there will be a reckoning, but 'Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord.'"

Mal showed his first emotion since they had set down: irritation. "I do not truck with that, Shepherd. I'll settle for my own brand of vengeance. The Lord moves too _gorram_ slow for my tastes, when He bothers to move at all."

Book did not reply. Instead, Simon spoke up. "What's in the canister, Captain?"

"What's left of the soil," Mal said. "Black glass, big chunks of it. Ranch musta been close to ground zero of a detonation to fuse it like that. Hell, we had thousands of head; for all I know, this ranch _was_ ground zero. From what I was told, all the cattle on the planet was confiscated for the war effort, for the Alliance brass to be able to eat beefsteak; only the people died."

"Come up to the Bridge," Zoe said, "and I'll show you guys the Capture I took." The gathering began to head for the stairs.

"Zoe," Mal called after her, "tell Wash to take us out of the world, and set a course for Radnor. We'll be able to load up on cargo there, provision, whatever we need. I need a non-reconstituted meal after all that outside. I'll pay for dinner for the crew once we get there. We'll consider it a wake."

The crew murmured their approval as they began to ascend to the Bridge. When Mal was done putting away his shovel, he grabbed his canister and followed, but before he reached the Bridge, he turned right and descended the ladder into his bunk, canister in hand. Once inside, he stepped to the far end of the room, and approached a shelf on the wall that was littered with keepsakes: Inara's box with the empty syringe inside, a framed photograph of his mother, various photograph and moving Capture prints of him with his platoon, his dogtags, and various other items. He made some room in the center, and placed the lead canister into the middle of the shelf, in a place of honor. In twenty or thirty years, he'd be able to take the cullet out for brief periods and hold it in his hands, but until then, it would stay behind a radiation shield.

Mal sat down on his bed and pulled out a flask from a cubby on the wall, spinning off the top and taking a long draught of the Jack Daniels he had filled it with. He cradled the flask in his hands and stared off into space, his eyes unfocused and looking at a blank patch of wall.

If there was a God, He could repay Mal for the outcome of the war by giving him the opportunity and the means to kick the Alliance squarely in the balls one day.

Mal cursed God, something that would have made him cringe in the old days, something he knew was beyond forgiveness. But he didn't care any longer. He remembered back to the day in Serenity Valley when the med ships finally came. Zoe roused the troops, and kept asking, "Whose colors are they flying? Whose colors are they flying?" like a _gorram_ skipping wave. Then, as they approached and came in for a landing, she and half a dozen of the men said, "Thank God."

"God?" Mal had laughed as he lit a flare. "Whose colors you think He's flyin'?"

Beneath him, he could feel the rumble of the thrusters, felt the drop in the pit of his stomach as the grav drive fought against Shadow's natural gravity, and the ship was airborne again, headed out of atmo, and on to Radnor.

He took another swig from the flask, then headed toward the galley for his bottle. Perhaps by the time they reached their destination, he'd be sober again.

 **(Author's Note: This chapter, and all the foreshadowing for it, and mentions that it was going to happen in previous chapters, are thanks to (and in honor of) a fan, ZingerCaskett, who said that she had always wanted to see a return to the lifeless, uninhabitable world of Shadow. She had seen it done once before another fic, but only once, and that offering was "meh" in her opinion. I hope that I did it justice here. Whether or not Mal's visit to Shadow will have any lasting effect is something we'll just have to wait and see. Also, the part where Zoe is asking about which side the med ships were on, and Mal asking which colors God was flying, come nearly verbatim from an actual deleted scene from the series.)**

 **(Next Time: On The Raggedy Edge - After arriving on a border world, the crew attempts to save a town from an active volcano that is about to erupt.)**


	34. On The Raggedy Edge

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 34: On The Raggedy Edge  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **They take the jobs they can get, even legitimate ones. But the further you get from the central planets, the harder things are, so this is part of it."  
-Inara Serra – Episode 2, "The Train Job"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 5, "Safe", and Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds".)**

 _Serenity_ was still six hours out from Radnor, and River was wandering this ship. As she meandered through the cargo bay, she chanced upon the Captain and Inara, heading for the balcony.

"You knew the drill when you signed on, Inara," Mal said.

"This is our third stop in a row without chance of a client. It's been over five weeks, given that three week jaunt to Jianying!" Inara exclaimed, her voice a hoarse whisper.

"Can't you resist the urge to spread your legs for a short span?" Mal retorted.

"You are unreal," Inara growled, and stalked off.

 **O-O-O**

Hours later, after they had completed re-entry, Wash's voice came over the intercom. "Mal, you'd better get up here," he said.

A couple of minutes later, Mal stepped into the Bridge, Zoe following a few seconds behind him. "What is it?" asked Mal.

Wash was bringing the ship in for a landing outside of the village of Paoli. He swung the ship around, toward the mountain at the base of which the town resided. There was a plume of smoke and ash billowing from the top of the mountain, and rivulets of lava flowing down its side. "Volcano, entering an active cycle. I checked with Port Control, and they say they have an alert out to the Fed Base approximately fifteen-hundred miles away. She's liable to blow any day now. They're requesting evacuation."

Mal sighed. "Put her down as close to the middle of town as you can," he said.

When Mal lowered the ramp, he was greeted by a crowd of frantic-looking settlers, with an older man in the lead. "Are you the Captain?" he asked.

"Captain Reynolds," said Mal, shaking the man's hand. "This is _Serenity._ "

"Elder Nielson," said the old man. "We've requested evacuation, but the Alliance is dragging their heels. We have money to pay if you can transport us all," he said. "Lava is due to hit the edge of town by tonight."

"How many you got?" Mal asked the Elder.

"Two-hundred and seventy-eight, including three babies," Nielson said. "I've got five hundred in platinum for their fare, if you can manage it."

"It'll be a tight squeeze," he said, "but yeah, if we load up our shuttles, we should be able to handle the load. Can't take you off-world; our life support would never be able to handle that many. Get you to the Alliance Fed Base, though."

"That will be fine. The Alliance has spare barracks there and should be able to take us in as refugees until we can be resettled. When do you want to leave?"

"What time is it now, local time?" Mal asked.

Elder Nielson looked at his watch. "Two thirty-seven in the afternoon," he said.

"Can you have everyone gathered and ready to board by six?" Mal asked. "One bag per person. Tell them to pack only what they can't bear to part with; we're not a moving company."

"We'll spread the word," said the Elder. "And bless you, my son. I'll have your money in less than half an hour."

While the Elder went to the bank to withdraw all of the town's funds from the bank, and set aside five hundred for the Captain, Mal went inside and explained the situation to the crew. Kaylee was to stay in the engine room with the door locked; the corridor fore of it was to be filled with refugees, as was the galley, the common area, the passenger dorm, infirmary, and cargo bay. Inara and Zoe were to detach the shuttles and set them down on either side of _Serenity_ , and load them with as many people as would fit. With luck, Zoe's shuttle would be able to handle forty people, all standing. With her bed and sofa taking up much of the space in Shuttle 1, Inara would be lucky to be able to handle half that.

Mal stepped back outside, where Elder Nielson was waiting with a cloth sack filled with platinum, which he handed over. "If we have room, Pete Goldberg says you're welcome to whatever you can carry from the general store; his entire stock's about to go up in flames, anyway."

A low rumble began from the mountain to the north, and smoke and ash began billowing from its peak at a much greater rate. Mal pulled out his comm, "Jayne, start loading the people that are packed and ready to go right away. Start them as far aft as you can, and pack them in as tight as you can. Zoe, get over to the general store and take anything of value you can find. We have a blank check to take anything we can carry, so long as nobody gets left behind," he said.

"Understood, Mal," said Jayne.

"I'm on it, sir," said Zoe.

Mal stuffed the bag of coins into his coat pocket, and noticed that Shepherd Book was setting up to preach to his captive audience, his donation box in front of him on the dirt street. A large group of desperate, terrified people gathered 'round as he began to speak about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius on Earth-That-Was, and what happened to those people without the protection of God.

Mal walked up the ramp and pulled out a hand truck, and watched for a moment as Jayne led about a dozen people, complete with children, towards the aft bulkhead, and up the stairs and toward the corridor between the engine room and the galley.

Mal rolled the handtruck back down the ramp and over to the general store, where he joined Zoe, who was stacking boxes of canned vegetables and textiles. "I've had a notion," Mal said. "Take the food, yes, but also take any tools or electronics, any hardware like nails and screws, and any tools you find. We can barter for them at a good rate on Triumph, I've heard, and then, loaded up with produce and liquor, we can clean up selling them on Beaumonde," he told her.

" _Jingsai!_ " Zoe said. "Looks like these peoples' loss is our gain today."

Outside, there was a loud bang, and Mal left the handtruck behind for Zoe, rushing outside in time to see several dozen volcanic bombs arcing high into the sky. People screamed and rushed towards the preacher while the bombs descended, but fortunately, none hit the town. One did land on the far side of town, in the forest, where the ball of magma exploded on impact and set the forest on fire. Mal sought out Elder Nielson, who was giving orders to some of the local law enforcement and various town assistant Elders, who were coordinating the evacuation. There was a line of people outside the ramp, each with a suitcase or duffel, even the children, and Jayne was slowly loading them inside. As he looked, Zoe was loading a bunch of boxes into the cargo bay from the handtruck.

"Elder Nielson, we may have to go earlier than expected. Tell your people to get into the center of town as fast as they can; that volcano looks like it might explode at any minute," he said, nodding toward the mountain, the side of which was now covered with a sold sheet of lava.

Two Alliance skiffs streaked overhead leaving contrails behind them as they flew in formation, doing recon, but there was no sign of transports yet.

A man rushed up to the Nielson. "Elder, just got a wave from the Fed Base. They say they'll have three transports here in twelve hours."

Nielson rolled his eyes. "Get back on the line and tell them we need to be out of here immediately; we have some transportation, but it may not be enough," he said. The other man nodded and rushed off.

Within two hours, Zoe had made over a dozen trips to the general store before Mal had told her to give it up. She then began loading people and their belongings onto Shuttle 2; Inara's shuttle was already full.

Meanwhile, the preacher had moved his 'ministry' inside the cargo bay and was standing on the balcony, speaking words of inspiration and comfort to those there assembled as they listened, desperate for anything that would save them.

Meanwhile, Mal and Nielson oversaw the final loading of the last of the villagers. To their horror, the top of the volcano exploded into a full eruption with a loud roar, sending all manner of deadliness into the air and in all directions.

"Everyone on! Everyone just get on and push your way as far back into the cargo bay as you can!" Mal yelled. People no longer entered the cargo bay in an orderly fashion, but ran up the ramp in a throng, shoving people out of the way as they went. In less than five minutes, as the town caught fire and began to burn in earnest, Mal and Elder Nielson got on last, with Mal rasing the ramp. Mal picked up the intercom and said, "Wash, we're all on. Signal our little fleet to get the hell out of here before we're grounded permanently!"

As Mal and Nielson picked their way to the Bridge, they could feel the telltale shifts in gravity as _Serenity_ took off. As they entered the Bridge, Mal could hear Wash over the intercom to the shuttles. "Make sure you stay below the ash cloud, and whatever you do, don't fly through any of it; it's filled with vaporized, liquid glass, which will clog your intake manifolds and destroy your engines."

Mal sat down in the copilot chair and strapped in, before gesturing to Elder Nielson to sit down at the Navigator's station, which he did, taking a few moments to figure out how to belt himself in.

"Radnor Fed Base," Wash said over the wave, "This is Firefly-class transport _Serenity_ , inbound to your location, along with our two shuttles, also in flight. We have nearly three-hundred from Paoli onboard, and seeking refugee assistance; the volcano outside of town just fully erupted."

"Understood, Firefly transport _Serenity_. We'll leave a light on for you, and good work."

Once they were clear of the ash cloud, Wash turned over the wheel and put the ship into autopilot; the ship was travelling at a fraction of its speed so that the shuttles could keep up, but they had gotten everyone out safely, and done no damage to the ships in the process.

Wash brought up rear vid, which displayed on all of their screens. " _Wo de ma,_ " Wash said. "It looks like the mountain practically exploded! We really got out of there in the nick of time."

"Thank God you folk came when you did," Elder Nielson said, "your arrival was a true blessing."

Mal seemed a little sour. "I ain't got no use for God, Elder, but if you want to believe that, then be my guest."

"Oxygen's starting to dip, Mal," said Wash, who called back to the engine room. "Kaylee, fire up the auxiliary life support. We're going to need supplemental oxygen with all these people aboard."

" _Shi'a,_ " said Kaylee over the comm. After a few minutes, the air, which had begun to get a little stale, seemed fresher to Mal.

Fifteen-hundred-and-twenty-four miles later, and with the permission and instruction of the Fed Base, _Serenity_ and her shuttles came in for a soft landing at one of the berths. A Colonel came out to meet Mal as the people began to disembark under the watchful eye of a platoon of Fed grunts, all armed with assault rifles.

"Captain Reynolds, let me be the first to shake your hand," Colonel Mayweather offered his hand, and Mal shook it. "Those people would all be dead if you hadn't come along when you did," he said.

"We're just happy to be doing good works," Mal said, quoting Jayne. "We had only come to provision and pick up cargo. We had no idea there was an environmental disaster there until we arrived."

"Well, we couldn't get our resources together in time to save them. Whatever your reasons, your assistance was nothing short of a miracle," the Colonel said.

"Yeah," Mal scoffed, thinking back to Shadow and the thousands of men and women turned into air pollution there. "A miracle."

 **(Author's Note: Here we have another mini-episode before we get into "Our Mrs. Reynolds, which features a wonderful deleted scene that I have dedicated an entire ficlet to, "In A Family Way". In it, River declares to Shepherd Book that she wants him to perform the ceremony for her and Simon to be married, which promises to be a lot of fun. I enjoyed this deleted scene so much, and "Our Mrs. Reynolds" is such a fun episode for me already, that I wish that they had left it in. The scene at the beginning, which includes River observing Inara and Mal talking, is an alternate version of a similar scene shot for "Objects in Space", in which Inara and Mal discuss Inara's leaving the ship; in this alternative version, which was shot with the intention of the episode airing before Inara decided to leave, has Mal asking if she can resist the urge to "spread" for "a short span". My recreation of this scene-let is not verbatim, however, as I added some contextual dialogue in keeping with the plot of the overall series of ficlets.)**

 **(Next Time: In A Family Way - River decides to marry her brother, then does some math that might just save the crew from certain death.)**


	35. In A Family Way

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 35: In A Family Way  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I always thought it was River who was lost without her big brother, but now I'm beginning to wonder if it isn't the other way around."  
-Gabriel Tam - Episode 5, "Safe"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds".)**

There was a thief on board, River knew. A woman who had stowed away after tricking Mal into marrying her, and she intended to kill them all. Her innocence and subservience was all an act. A thief and a liar, and a skilled one at that. Eilish - or Saffron, as everyone insisted on calling her - had never pulled a trigger on anyone before, but she had killed hundreds, nonetheless.

Most of the crew seemed to think the predicament the Captain was in was funny. Inara however, most notably, was upset. Her feelings for the Captain were quite evident to River, but her reasons for keeping those feelings a secret remained a mystery to the girl.

River made her way through the common area, and could feel in her mind that Shepherd Book was making up a bed for Saffron, which made her angry. How could the crew be so foolish as to open their arms to someone who intended to murder them? She had a notion that she would kill two birds with one stone; she strode into the room just as Book was smoothing out the bed, a red throw pillow resting against the bed pillow. She grabbed the red throw and mussed up the bed, then marched out of the room, the throw hanging at her side.

Simon was just departing the infirmary; this was perfect timing. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward the passenger dorm, where Book was emerging from Saffron's room. " _Seh man uh?_ " Simon asked.

"River doesn't want me making up a bed for our young guest," Book said to Simon, who was still being led by the arm by River, "or else she's starting a pillow collection; I'm still collating data."

Simon smiled, ruefully, and started toward Saffron's dorm. "I'm sorry. I'll take care of the room."

River grabbed Simon tighter. "It's not important," she said, looking her brother in the eye with a huge grin on her face. "Tell him."

Simon was confused as he looked back at his sister. "Tell him what?"

River turned to Book. "We want you to marry us."

"What?" Simon exploded. "We- wha- uh, no!" He looked at Book, horrified, then back at River. "What?"

River cocked her head at him. "Two by two? Everyone a match, a mate, a dopple? I love you."

"No, River, _meimei,_ of course, I love you, too, but… we can't be married." Simon was desperately trying to regain his composure. He turned his head to Book. "She's _really_ crazy."

River scowled, and kicked Simon hard in the shin, causing him to almost double over as he cried out. "Ow! Uh, no, I don't mean…" he waved his hand at her, as if to wave the pejorative away. "Crazy… Uh, that's just not something brothers and sisters _do_. I mean, on some planets, but only pretty bad ones."

River looked at Simon petulantly. "The Captain took a _wife._ "

Book jumped in, "Well, that's also complicated."

"I don't know where this is coming from," Simon said as he heard the distinct metal sound of people descending the stairs from the hallway just aft of the galley.

"We'll take care of each other," River said. "I'll _knit!_ " She suddenly looked forlorn as the sound grew louder. "You don't love me."

Mal and Saffron stepped into view, down the stairs. "What's goin' on?" Mal asked.

"I… really couldn't say," Simon answered.

"I was gonna show Saffron to her quarters," Mal said. "They squared away?"

"Once upon a time," Book replied.

"I really don't need anything," Saffron said, smiling. "I'm just fine."

"You're a thief," River said. Best to get it all out into the open now, she figured.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Mal said. "Let's play nice here." River looked from the Captain to her brother. "Your sister has some funny notions."

Simon was still off-kilter. "That's… not untrue."

"I'm sorry," Saffron said. All eyes turned to her as she reached into the belt of her dress. "I didn't know when I was to be fed." She pulled out a foil pouch. "And I was afraid."

"You made that fine meal and didn't eat nothin' yourself?" Mal asked as Saffron held out the pouch, which contained a protein bar.

"That was for you," Saffron said. "Weren't but pot lickin's left. I took this for later. I didn't know she saw me."

"I didn't see you," River said quietly, stuffing the pillow under her blouse and cradling it in her arms. Didn't anyone else see this woman for what she was? How their lives were all in danger?

"Well, there's certainly no harm done," Book said.

"And I say there is," Mal retorted, wheeling on Saffron. "A good deal o' harm, startin' to tick me off." He paused for a long moment, looked at the bar in his hands, and continued. "I got no use for people sneakin' around, takin' what ain't theirs."

"Yes," agreed Book. "We frown on that here."

"But what I got even less use for," said Mal, "is a woman who won't stand up for herself. Five days hence, we're puttin' you in the World, and you won't last _a day_ by bowin' and sniffin' for hand-outs. You want something, you take it. Or you ask for it. You don't wait to be told when to breathe; you don't take orders from anyone. 'Cept me. And that's just 'cause I'm the Captain. People take orders from Captains, even in the World. But for the rest - damnit! - be like a woman is. Not some petrified child. There's more than seventy Earths spinnin' about the galaxy, and the meek have inherited not a one. You understand what I'm sayin' to you?"

Saffron was looking down at her hands, like a chastened puppy. She nodded slowly. "I do."

Mal handed her back the foil wrappage. "Shepherd, would you show Saffron her room, please?"

"Please," Book said, gesturing for Saffron to enter the dorm, which she did, but only after taking the protein bar from Mal.

The Captain ascended the stairs again, and suddenly River was alone with her brother. "Now we have to be married," she said, still cradling the pillow against her stomach as Simon turned to face her. "I'm in the family way." She gestured to her distended pillow-belly.

Simon placed his palm firmly over his face and sighed heavily.

 **O-O-O**

Hours later, River could feel the consciousnesses of several people on the ship winking out, and not from sleep. It was all starting to happen, what she had seen in Eilish's – Saffron's mind. They were all going to die if something wasn't done. Mal and Wash were out cold, Zoe Simon, Jayne and Kaylee were all asleep, and Inara was in danger as well. She woke with a start and stole out of her dorm, then pushed the comm button for Zoe and Wash's bunk.

"Zoe, are you there?"

Nothing for a long moment. "Zoe, are you there?"

A groggy response at last. "What is it, River?"

"You need to talk to your husband. It's important."

"River, what do you _want?"_ Zoe was irritated to have been awakened.

"You need to talk to Wash. Right now," she said.

"Fine," Zoe said, and there were sounds of rustling as Zoe got out of bed.

Thirty seconds later, the shipwide alarm began to blare, and River smiled to herself. Nobody knew it, or would ever know, but she had saved the ship.

Possibly. If they were lucky.

 **O-O-O**

River left her dorm and joined the crew near the Bridge, watching events unfold all around her as she scanned the minds of the others. Inara had kissed the Captain in his unconsciousness and had passed out herself, another victim to the narcotic lipstick Saffron had used on the Mal, but once everyone save for Jayne and Kaylee had congregated in the Captain's quarters, Inara and the Captain were awake again. So was Wash, who had been kicked in the head, which in turn had slammed into a bulkhead door, and that was how Zoe had found him, bleeding and unconscious, lying on the deck outside of the Bridge, which had been sealed off.

Eventually, everyone was back on the Bridge, and as River watched from the catwalk outside, they had worked to regain partial control of the ship, but she knew that they wouldn't get full control back in time, based on what she had gleaned from Saffron. The tendrils of her thoughts reached out to the Captain's mind, planting an idea that would get them out of this. Mal ordered Zoe to get their suits ready.

"What do I do?" Jayne asked Mal.

"You go get Vera," he said to Jayne.

Minutes later, Mal and Jayne were suited up and in the airlock, which was depressurized. Vera, Jayne's beloved rifle, was encased in Zoe's suit, which would provide the oxygen they needed to fire her. They had once chance at this. Mal opened the forecouple door and exposed the airlock to space, and an artificial structure in the distance, getting closer by the second as _Serenity_ moved inexorably forward even as Wash and Kaylee worked feverishly on the Bridge to regain control of the navigation and helm systems.

River, back in her dorm and laying on her bed, shuddered as she clutched her pillow. In Jayne's mind, she could see the ring of the Scrap Shop floating in space, and the electricity arcing throughout the ring the ship was about to pass through, which would kill them all. He had to hit one of the breakers, which was hard enough from this distance, but normally for Jayne it would be easy. He was shooting from the hip, which would still not be too difficult for him, but there was one important factor he was not taking into account.

He had one shot, but he wasn't allowing for the forward momentum of the ship in his aim.

River quickly did the math, and reached out to Jayne's thoughts again and guided his hand. He lined up the shot and pulled the trigger.

The breaker exploded, sending blue energy arcing up to the top of the structure, which electrified the control room.

Next, she did the math again and helped Jayne line up his aim for the control room window, and he fired again, repeatedly; once again, thanks to River, his aim was true. Aboard the station, she could feel the fear in the minds of the two technicians as they watch the glass spiderweb and crackle before it gave way. She heard their silent screams in her mind as they floated into the hard vacuum of space and expired in a matter of seconds. The rest of the crew of the Scrap Shop died over the next few minutes as all the air escaped through the shattered window.

 _Serenity_ passed through the net, unscathed, and River could feel the level of tension on the ship ease considerably. She closed her eyes and went back to sleep, a gentle smile upon her face.

 **(Author's Note: Finally, a solid River story, courtesy of a wonderful deleted scene, which makes up the first half of this ficlet. The second half sprang from my imagination as I tried to envision the remainder of the episode through River's eyes, despite the fact that she is barely seen, let alone heard from. I thought it would be a rather novel idea for her to touch the minds of the crew and save the entire ship. I hope you do, too. We are nearing the halfway mark in the Firefly series, with 35 chapters down. There are eight episodes remaining, and then the film, which I estimate I will be able to write six chapters for (I'm pulling this number completely out of my rear, mind you), so all in all, I'm still hoping for around 60 chapters before we reach our end, which will bring Firefly: Deleted Scenes to approximately 300 pages long, and over 120,000 words, based on my average to date. I currently have chapter titles and one-line synopses planned out to chapter 45, but when I sit down at my keyboard to write every day, I only have that one-line synopsis and title to go on, and just let the writing take me where it will. The only thing I am really planning ahead is the epilogue, for which I have several threads I want to tie up that I've been mulling over, some due in part to several of my fans who have written in with feedback and suggestions. So if you have anything you'd like to see, a deleted scene of your own you'd like to see brought to life, now is the time to let me know, so I can make it happen while there's still time. And as always, reviews and feedback are welcome. I'd love to hear from my readers!)**

 **(Next Time: Let's Go Visiting - Mal and Zoe take Shuttle 1 to St. Albans to recover Shuttle 2 following its theft by "Saffron".)**


	36. Let's Go Visiting

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 36: Let's Go Visiting  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Only a few places that shuttle would make it to from where you left. Happy to find it intact."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds, Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds".)**

Mal looked over the star charts on the Bridge of _Serenity_ as he considered the possibilities. "So, only three places she could have made it in the shuttle?"

"Uh, yeah," Wash said, doing the fuel computations. "From where she left, she could have made it to St. Alban's, Vishnu, or possibly New Istanbul, but only just barely."

"Which is closest?" Mal asked.

"St. Albans," said Wash, who shifted his legs so that Kaylee could have better access to the underside of his panel, where she was still working to undo the damage that Saffron had done with her impromptu but brilliant rewiring job to the Bridge stations.

"Then set a course, and we'll start there. When we're in range, attempt to activate the shuttle's transponder," said Mal. "With luck, she'll still be in one piece and we'll be able to get her back."

"You got it, Mal," Wash said, punching buttons on the keyboard on top of his panel.

Mal stood up and turned to leave. "I'm going to get some sleep before we get there."

 **O-O-O**

Six hours later, following breakfast, Zoe and Mal took command of Shuttle 1, with Inara left safely aboard _Serenity_ as Zoe assumed the controls and decoupled the shuttle from the ship.

Together, Mal and Zoe descended into atmo while the _Serenity_ scanned the surface, trying to activate the Shuttle 2's transponder. Once Shuttle 1 had finished re-entry, they began flying over the frozen, mountainous terrain, which was mostly covered by evergreen trees. "Smells like a Buddhist temple in here," Zoe said.

"It's the incense," Mal said. "I rather enjoy the smell, myself."

"It covers the smell of a potential enemy," Zoe said. "And we'll smell like it, too. If we need stealth when we get where we're going, our scent could give us away."

"Good point," Mal said, continuing to scan the horizon and the terrain below as they flew over yet another settlement.

Wash's voice suddenly came over the comm, "Mal, we've got a heartbeat. Feeding you coordinates now," he said.

Zoe programmed the coordinates and changed course accordingly, the shuttle wheeling around. "Depending on the terrain," Mal said, "we'll land a couple of miles away and make the rest of the trip on foot."

Later, after doing a high-altitude recon flight over what appeared to be a cabin deep in the woods with the Shuttle 2 parked behind it, Shuttle 1 came for a landing in a glade some distance away, to prevent anyone inside the cabin from hearing them. Mal and Zoe exited the vehicle, and after Zoe had locked the door to the shuttle, with weapons drawn, they trudged through the snow towards the cabin.

Mal and Zoe crouched down as they approached the house, so that they would not be easily visible through the windows. "Zoe," Mal said, "go and cover the back door, if there is one. I'm goin' inside."

"You don't want to just take the shuttle?" Zoe asked.

"I have some unfinished business with Saffron," Mal said. Zoe nodded, then headed off.

After waiting about thirty seconds, Mal tried the doorknob gently, and found it locked. He then reared back and kicked the door in, his gun hand outstretched and trained on Saffron, who was wearing a bustier and a skirt, and had her hand on the butt of a pistol holstered at her side. She was near the door and standing next to a bed, just barely within arm's reach.

"Honey, I'm home," Mal said ironically.

Saffron turned her head away, then back to Mal before suddenly lashing out, knocking his gun hand away as the two struggled. She got her pistol out, but Mal's hand was on her arm and before she could get anywhere close to aiming it, he had knocked it our of her hand and onto the floor.

Before the struggle had gone on for more than five or six seconds, Mal pushed her down onto the bed and straddled her. "Looks like you get that wedding night after all," he said.

Eilish - Saffron - smirked and kneed him in the crotch, trying desperately to throw him off. The pair rolled onto the floor, and for a moment she was on top of him, but Mal used the momentum to roll her onto her back, and again he was on top of her, this time with his gun practically pressed to her temple. "It's the first time, darlin'. I think you should be gentle with me."

"You gonna kill me?" Eilish asked.

"Can you conjure up a compelling reason for me not to?" Mal countered.

"I didn't kill _you,_ " Eilish said.

"You handed me and my crew over to those that would kill us; that buys you nothin'."

"I made you dinner," Eilish said, coyly.

"Why the act? All the seduction games, the dancin' about folk; there _has_ to be an easier way to steal." Mal offered.

"You're assuming the payoff is the point," Eilish said.

"I'm not assuming anything at this juncture," Mal said.

"How'd you find me?" Eilish asked.

"Only a few places that shuttle would make it to from where you left," Mal said. "Happy to find it intact."

Eilish smiled and began to squirm seductively beneath Mal. "You're quite a man, Malcolm Reynolds. I've been waiting a long time for someone good enough to take me down."

"Saffron, you even think about playin' me again, I will riddle you with holes."

Saffron's smile disappeared, all hint of pretense vanished from her face. "Everybody plays each other. That's all anybody ever does. We play parts."

Mal smirked at her. "You got all kinds o' learnin', and made me look the fool without tryin', and yet here I am, with a gun to your head. That's because I got people with me. People who trust each other, who do for each other, and ain't always lookin' for the advantage."

Saffron smirked back. "Promise me you're gonna kill me soon."

Mal got off of her and crouched next to Eilish on the floor. "Oh, you already know I ain't gonna."

"You know you did pretty well," Eilish said, propping herself up on her elbows and looking at Mal, smiling. "Most men, they're on me inside of ten minutes. Not tryin' to teach me to be strong and the like."

"I got one question for ya," Mal said. "Just one thing I'd like to know, straight up."

"Ask me," Eilish said, a smile still on her face.

"What's your real name?" Mal asked.

Eilish's smile faltered; she blinked several times as if the question had caught her off guard. She paused for a long while.

When Mal had had enough of her indecision, he cracked her across the skull with his pistol and knocked her out. "You'd only have lied anyway," he said.

Mal met Zoe out back, and both got into Shuttle 2, which Zoe piloted back to the glade. Once there, she came in for a landing, then got out and boarded Shuttle 1. The shuttles flew in formation back to _Serenity_.

 **O-O-O**

Several hours later, the ship was back on its way to Beaumonde, and Wash relayed a call from a man on Paquin named Bernoulli to Mal in his bunk; Bernoulli had a load of contraband he needed taken from Canton on Higgins' Moon to its rightful purchaser. Mal had promised Inara two weeks on Beaumonde so she could finally see some clients, but Bernoulli was fine with that, as long as the job was done promptly afterward. Mal took down the details so he could inform the crew over dinner.

He then went to visit Inara, now back on board her shuttle, and River watched them in her mind as she lay in her bed, smiling at Mal's cluelessness and Inara's desire to hide her feelings from Mal no matter the cost. She did note that had Mal not been so completely wrong about why Inara had passed out, the Companion was prepared to admit that she had kissed him in his unconscious state, but better for him to think that she had kissed Saffron, Inara reasoned.

River laughed, and went back to drawing. "The vixen lives," she said with a wry smile on her face.

Next, Mal went to see Shepherd Book. "I've heard back from the pastor at Triumph," Book said. "They have no record of anyone named Saffron at the settlement, and not only do we not know her real name, we don't even know the last name of her alias. Based on that, he is unable to offer dispensation for a divorce."

" _Wo de ma!"_ Mal exclaimed.

"Like it or not," Book continued, "you're married, and will remain so until you can haul her in front of the pastor or a Magistrate."

Mal rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and index finger. "This day just keeps getting better and better," he complained. "Am I still going to the Special Hell, preacher?"

Book smiled. "That remains to be seen," he said. "Did you kill her?"

"Should have," Mal said. "There's no telling how many deaths she's caused with her marriage scams, but no, I didn't kill her."

"Then you're one step closer to just going to Regular Hell," Book said.

"That's comforting," Mal said. "Saffron said something to me, before she kissed me. She said it was from the Bible. Let me try and remember… _'On the night of their betrothal, the wife shall open to the man as the furrow to the plow. And he shall work in her in and again, until she bring him to his full. And rest him then, upon the sweat of her breast.'"_

Book grinned. "That's not from the Bible."

Mal was stunned. "It isn't?"

"No," Book said. "It's from one of the Hadiths of the Qur'an, a book of sayings and interpretations considered to be as authoritative as the Qur'an itself."

"So she's a Muslim?" Mal asked, amazed.

"I wouldn't presume to know," Book said. "But as Inara said, she's well-schooled."

"Not well schooled enough to kill the crew of _Serenity_ , Shepherd," Mal said, and walked off.

 **(Author's Note: No, that isn't the last we've seen of Eilish-Saffron-Bridget-Yolanda-Ann Couler. We still have "Trash" (Episode 11), but even then, we may see her well before that, as there's always the question of how she ran into Monty, so maybe that's a story I'll be telling as well. Saffron always fascinated me, and I've always wondered about her backstory. A fan requested that last night, with suggestions about the reasons for her seeking to becoming a Companion, and I agreed with her that it was a story worth exploring, so if I can't merge it with the Monty story, I may do them separately, so there may be lots of Saffron goodness in your future if you are a daily reader of Deleted Scenes. Also, the scene with Mal and Saffron/Eilish (pronounced "AY-lish, and yes, I did get the name from the beautiful film, "Brooklyn" that came out this year, although the main character's name, while being pronounced the same, is written "Eilis"), in her cabin is verbatim from a scene near the end of Episode 6, "Our Mrs. Reynolds". If you have any stories about Saffron, or questions you'd like to see answered about her, now is the time to write in and tell me, so I can oblige you; as writers go, I am almost always happy to oblige. I love hearing from my readers, so let's keep those PMs rolling in. Also, if you're enjoying the series, why not favorite and/or follow it?)**

 **(Next Time: The Hero Of Canton - Little Billy Murphy of Canton tells the town that Jayne Cobb has returned, and joins in the festivities as the workers celebrate his visit.)**


	37. The Hero of Canton

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 37: The Hero of Canton  
By Gamera Obscura**

 **"Shake your head, boy; your eyes are stuck. Git!"  
-Jayne Cobb, Episode 7, "Jaynestown"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 7, "Jaynestown".)**

Billy Murphy, a slave of Boss Higgins on Higgins' Moon, walked through Worker Town at the end of a long day of labor, passing the statue of Jayne Cobb in the town square as he moved towards his destination. It was a Friday, and that meant he didn't have any tutoring from his ma this evening, as his parents would be in the bar, just like they were every Friday and Saturday night. His ma and pa were fortunate enough to have a prized shift, one that had them working days, and had weekends off, unlike most of the other shifts and workers, many of whom worked during the night or through the weekends, and had their days off during the week.

The mudders worked in the bog, twenty-nine hours a day, seven days a week.

Canton had over two thousand slave workers for Boss Higgins, but there were those that weren't slaves that actually received substantial wages, and others that didn't work in the bog at all, like those than ran the bar, or the grocer's. Then there were the Pretty People, those who were rich and worked and lived in the main village, but they didn't usually come here. The smell alone was enough to drive them off; Billy had been here in Worker Town all his life, though, and barely noticed the odor.

With the sun nearly down, Billy entered the bar and descended the wooden stairs into the bar, which also doubled as an inn for the occasional visitor or a pair of young slaves who decided to spend some of their hard-earned money on a tryst upstairs. He sidled up to the bar and ordered a Chuck Mayberry, a so-called "kiddie cocktail" made of Rolls Cola, grenadine, and a real life candied cherry, not an imitation, which probably accounted for at least half the cost of the drink. He passed over a small coin in payment and turned around, looking to see if any of his friends were there yet.

He didn't see any other kids in the bar, but he did notice something unusual: one of the Pretty People, an older, bald man in a very expensive suit. As Billy watched, he sat down with a group of strangers, a table full of people he'd never seen before, most of whom were dressed far too well to be slaves. One of them even wore a suit; it wasn't as nice as the bald man's, but he was Pretty People, too.

As he sipped his drink, Billy looked over the strangers. One of them wore a tan jacket with a hood, and goggles, which were unnecessary in Canton, especially indoors. It was as if he was trying to disguise himself. Billy looked over the man, who seemed strangely familiar, and then remembered the statue in the town square. He was trying to hide himself, but Billy realized with his stomach almost leaping into his throat that it was Jayne Cobb himself, the Hero of Canton.

He had to be sure, so Billy finished his drink, then walked over to the table, standing just a few feet from the Man They Called Jayne. After about thirty seconds of looking Jayne over, the man regarded him with annoyance. "Shake your head, boy. Your eyes are stuck." Billy was frozen in place, unable to believe his luck at being the one to spot Jayne first, when everyone else was oblivious. Suddenly, Jayne belted out, "Git!" and with a slight yelp, Billy ran off, up the stairs and out of the bar.

From there, it became a race. "Jayne Cobb is in the bar!" he began yelling as he ran through the town. When people stopped to talk to him, he described what Jayne was wearing, and told them to tell everyone they could before meeting up outside the bar. He ran all the way through every corner of Worker Town, yelling his head off, before making his way back to the bar, where over a hundred people were congregating. Four hundred of them were on shift, and the rest were either eating, sleeping, in the bar already, or just didn't believe Billy's story.

The boy took up a position in the front of the crowd as the group of well-dressed people emerged from the entrance at the top of the stairs. Billy could see Cobb come through the door.

"There he is!" someone shouted. And suddenly the entire crowd was cheering, clapping and stomping their feet.

"Jayne! Jayne! Jayne! Jayne! Jayne!" the crowd began to chant. Jayne Cobb looked horrified, and glanced at Billy, who pointed at himself and nodded with a huge grin on his face. Jayne then pulled down his hood and removed his goggles before heading back into the bar with resignation. His companions slowly followed him as the crowd continued to chant.

Various people began to filter into the bar; the establishment wouldn't hold them all, but everyone wanted a closer look at the Hero of Canton, to pat him on the back and buy him a drink. Billy went back into the bar, where several of his friends were now congregated at a table, and stepped up to the bar, where people were literally hanging all over Jayne.

"To Jayne!" someone shouted, and everyone cheered.

"To me!" Jayne shouted back, raising his drink. "To the mudders!" he shouted again, after the bartender had refilled his glass with whiskey from an actual bottle, and not the "Mudder's Milk" that most people usually drank here. "Boss Higgins—" Jayne said something in Mandarin that Billy couldn't understand, probably some vulgar insult against their owner, the man Jayne had robbed of over sixty-thousand in platinum.

Billy flagged down the bartender and ordered another Chuck Mayberry, telling the fat, bearded owner, "You know, I spotted Jayne first and told everyone in town."

The bartender smiled. "Then you drink free tonight, too," he said. "Your money's no good here tonight, Billy Murphy!"

Billy smiled and took his drink over to the table with his friends, and sat down with them.

"Real shiny of you catchin' on to Jayne bein' back in town," said one of the boys, patting Billy on the shoulder.

A pair of the older girls were checking out Jayne through the crowd. "He's real spry, super spry," one said. "Much handsomer than his statue."

"I wonder if I offered him a free roll if he'd take it," the other girl said, then noticed he had his arm around the town crotch, and her face fell."

"He don't want no jailbait," said one of the boys, "no matter how spry she is."

"Jayne ain't afraid of any Lawman," said the girl, defensively. "He's fearless!"

"I heard he's killed a hundred men, and robbed a hundred banks. They say he only robbed Boss Higgins 'cause he was mad at the way Higgins treats his slaves," said one.

"And I heard he's the head of the underground railroad for escaping slaves," said another. "Rumor has it he's helped a thousand slaves escape their masters. For all we know, he's here to take us all away from Higgins!"

"That's stupid," said Billy. "You'd need a carrier or a liner for that many people, and I heard only a midbulk transport arrived this afternoon. Weren't no way they could even handle a tenth of Boss Higgins' slaves."

"Guys," said another of Billy's friends, coming up to the table. "Marla Anders says there's gonna be an event tomorrow, late morning. Jayne Cobb's gonna be givin' a speech in front of the statue!"

Billy was excited; if Jayne Cobb was going to be giving a speech, he absolutely _had_ to be there.

There was more cheering at the bar, and Billy and his friends looked over. Jayne was still the center of attention, and was making another toast. Billy noticed his ma and pa slapping him on the shoulder.

Billy drank his fill of Chuck Mayberrys and ate his fill of free snacks; once Jayne had gone up into a private room with Nadine Austen, the town crotch, the group of friends broke for the night, and all carried themselves home. Billy, still wired from the night's excitement, coupled with all the sugar and caffeine he'd drunk, had difficulty getting to sleep, tossing and turning for hours until his mind settled down enough to allow him to get some rest.

 **O-O-O**

The next day, Billy got up and dressed in the same clothes that he had worn the day before. He only had three outfits, after all, so unless he got exceptionally muddy or his clothes began to reek, he'd wear the same thing every day for about a week.

After breakfast with his ma and pa, the three made their way to town square, and the statue, where hundreds of people were already waiting. Twenty minutes later, Jayne Cobb, the Hero of Canton himself, showed up. People cheered and chanted his name, and then he began to speak. It didn't matter what he said; the people would have eaten up insults about their mothers and asked for seconds from this man, but he was shiny, and inspiring.

Suddenly a man with a shotgun blasted his weapon into the air in the back of the crowd, and everyone parted like the stories of the Red Sea on Earth-That-Was, right out of the Bible. The man was long-haired with a beard that hung halfway down his belly, and his face was messed up, disfigured. He appeared to be missing an eye. He was holding one of the Pretty People hostage, but threw the man in the suit to the ground.

He told a tale, that he and Jayne had been robbing Boss Higgins and intended to keep the money for themselves, but their hovercraft was going down, and Jayne threw the other man out of the plane to reduce the load; it wasn't enough, however, and Jayne tossed the money out and dropped it on Worker Town by accident, not on purpose. Then, after trading insults with Jayne, the long haired man aimed his weapon at Jayne and fired. Ron Burgess leaped in front of the blast, though, and took it full in the chest, dead before he hit the ground.

Jayne screamed, and threw a knife strapped to the back of his pants, hitting the long haired man in the throat, then, once Jayne's target had dropped his shotgun, the two men ran at each other. Jayne knocked him to the ground by the statue pedestal, and smashed the man's head into it several times, fracturing his skull and breaking his neck, and then the long haired man was dead.

Jayne screamed at the crowd, but it didn't matter what he said. Nobody much cared; he was the Hero of Canton, and would always be so. Billy strode up to the corpse, and pulled the blade from the man's neck, holding the horn-hilted knife out to Jayne, cradling it in both hands as though it was some holy artifact instead of a deadly weapon; Jayne snatched it from his hands roughly, and Billy recoiled in fear. Then Jayne toppled the statue before storming off with his people, headed back to their ship.

Twenty minutes later, Wilson Merrick came with a hammer and chisel, a trowel, and a bucket of clay. As Billy watched, Wilson chipped off the dried, unkilned clay from the bottom of the statue's feet, then used the trowel to apply fresh clay to the soles of the feet, and Billy helped as four other men lifted the statue back onto the pedestal and placed the feet onto the spaces chiseled out to fit them precisely. Billy smiled and joked with the men as they all held the statue in place for over an hour, until Wilson had declared that the clay had dried enough to release the statue, which stayed up.

And there the statue stayed until the day Billy and his parents left Higgins' Moon, three and a half years later, once their debt of indenture was paid off. They took the money that they had saved from their share of the bonus that Jayne Cobb had dropped on Worker Town almost eight years before, and moved the whole family to Persephone. Billy went to school, proper-like, and while his ma worked in a shop, his pa got a job in a factory. They lived in a small apartment, but they lived, no longer slaves, and what they earned was theirs, all of it, for the rest of their lives.

Billy would go on to tell his children, and later his grandchildren and even his great-grandchildren, the story of the day that Jayne Cobb, the Hero of Canton, came back to town.

 **(Author's Note: This is a bit of a departure for me, telling the entire story from the perspective of a boy that doesn't have a single line of dialogue in the series. I considered it a challenge, and I hope you enjoyed how it came out. The "kiddie cocktail" that Billy drinks is actually a cola-based variant of the "Shirley Temple", commonly called a "Buck Rogers" on Earth-That-Was.)**

 **(Next Time: Our Love For Him Now - Jayne agonizes over the death of a mudder who took a shotgun blast meant to kill him, and that the townsfolk still worship him, despite the fact that there is nothing heroic about him.)**


	38. Our Love For Him Now

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 38: Our Love For Him Now  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I don't know why that eats at me so."  
-Jayne Cobb, Episode 7, "Jaynestown"**

 **(The following takes place during the end of Episode 7, "Jaynestown", and slightly after.)**

Ron Burgess was dead, the victim of a shotgun blast from Stitch Hessian's weapon, and now that Jayne was back on the ship, he was miserable. He was lucky to be alive, and should have been happy to have been so, but he wasn't. Burgess had taken the blast meant to kill him, despite the truth coming out about his robbing Boss Higgins, and Jayne just couldn't understand it.

He stood on the catwalk balcony overlooking the cargo bay as the ship broke atmo and attained orbit before setting course for their next destination, and miserable Jayne just stood there, leaning forwards against the railing, his arms draped into the empty space above the hold.

Before long, Mal came up to him, his face serious, and stood next to Jayne, taking up the same posture that Jayne had.

"Don't make no sense," Jayne finally said to Mal, quietly. "What- Why the hell'd that mudder have to go and do that for, Mal? Jumpin' in front of that shotgun blast?"

Jayne finally glanced over at Mal, who had still not looked at him. "Hell, there weren't one of 'em understood what happened out there; they're probably sticking that statue right back up."

"Most like," Mal replied simply.

"I don't know why that eats at me so," Jayne grumbled.

"It's my estimation that… every man got a statue made of him was some kinda sumbitch or 'nother," Mal said. "It ain't about you, Jayne… It's about what they need."

Jayne looked at Mal for a long moment, the silence between them palpable. "Don't make no sense."

The pair stood that way for a long time, just standing in silence, before Mal finally patted Jayne on the shoulder and left him to his thoughts. After a good while, Jayne went into the kitchen and poured himself a tall glass of the hard cider they had gotten from Triumph, the half-full jug in his other hand, finger curled through the ceramic loop by the jug's mouth, and then returned to his perch above the cargo bay, sitting down before taking a long pull from his glass.

Jayne thought of the cows that had been on the ship for three weeks, and how he'd used to come here to watch them and just think. He wished they were on the ship again, so he could watch living things mill about and didn't have to see the face of that dead mudder, gut shot and lying face-down in the dirt.

Eventually, he was joined by Kaylee, who came up to him and sat down next to him. "Penny for your thoughts," she asked him brightly.

"What? What's a penny?"

"It's an old saying," she told him. "A penny was a copper coin, after a time it was worth almost nothing. Be worth like a thousandth of a platinum now, or a ten-thousandth of a platinum, maybe. People used to say 'a penny for your thoughts', and then you're supposed to tell them what's troubling you."

"You got a penny?" he asked.

Kaylee laughed. "Until we get paid for this job, I ain't got a blessed to my name. But you look like a man who's hurting, and I wanted to let you know I'm here for you if you want to talk."

Jayne sighed, and drank again. "I just don't know how that whole town can keep on loving me like I'm some kind o' hero, when all I was is a thief. A thief that pushed his partner out a hovercraft. They heard the words, and it was just like they went in one ear and out the other. I ain't no hero."

"Of course you are, Jayne," Kaylee said. "You're a hero to every man, woman, and child in Worker Town at Canton. Don't matter that you pushed a man almost to his death, don't matter that you dropped the money on them by accident. You're a hero to them. And to me."

"How do you figure?" he asked.

"The reasons don't matter a _gorram_ bit, Jayne," Kaylee said. "You changed those peoples' lives. Some of that money went to Doctorin', and some of it went to medicine. Some of it went to extra food for kids. There are people alive in that town that wouldn't be if it weren't for what you did. If nothing else, that alone makes you a hero."

Jayne shrugged, still not looking at Kaylee. "I love you, Kaylee. At least I think I do. I don't know if I know what real love feels like; I love my ma and pa, I love Mattie, and Dober, my old dog before she died. I loved my memaw and pepop. But this is different; I love you in a different way. I know you're sweet on the Doc, I get that, but I wanted you to know."

Kaylee smiled sadly. "I know you do, Jayne. I've known you've had a crush on me since you left me that origami flower outside my bunk. I love you, too. Maybe not in the way you hope or want me to, but I do love you. And thank you, hero." She kissed him on the cheek to make her point. Then she got up, tousled his hair, and left him alone with his thoughts.

After a long while, Jayne poured himself another drink, and took a big sip. He sat there, musing, for what must have been over a half an hour. By the time he was halfway through his third drink, he could hear footsteps coming his way again. This time it was Inara who came up to him. She had always given him a wide berth, and never spoke to him unless she absolutely had to. Her disdain for the Hero of Canton – and weren't that a laugh? – was barely concealed, and sometimes, when he was being especially obnoxious, it shone through.

But not today.

"Would the Hero of Canton like some company?" she asked quietly.

Jayne laughed. "Like I been sayin' all morning, Inara, I ain't a hero."

"Sure you are, Jayne. Those people in town sure thought so. You even have fans in the most unlikely of places."

"What do you mean?" he asked, turning to look at her.

"I got a chance to meet Boss Higgins' son. He thinks you're a great man. Says you're the only man he ever saw that stood up to his father, and he admires you greatly for that."

"Boss Higgins' kid thinks I'm a hero?"

"He does," Inara replied. "Not only that, and you don't know this yet, but Boss Higgins traced you back to Serenity and put a Land-Lock on this ship, to keep you from getting off Higgins' Moon. Fess Higgins, the Magistrate's twenty-six year old son, called Port Control and released the Land-Lock, specifically because he wanted you to get away. He couldn't bear the thought of you getting caught and spending the rest of your life locked up."

"He probably don't know I pushed a man outta my plane to get away with the money," Jayne said with bitterness.

"Of course he knows that," Inara said. "He told me all about it; they'd had Stitch sitting in solitary confinement in a sun-baked wooden box for four years after they caught him; he told them all about you, and what you did to him. How do you think the townspeople knew who you were in the first place? He knew you giving the money to the workers was an accident, but it doesn't matter to him any more than it matters to Higgins' slaves."

Jayne downed the last of his drink. "When the townsfolk all congratulated me for what I done inside the bar, I felt proud. Prouder of getting them the money than anything I'd ever done before. And I felt like I really made a difference in their lives. They was all tellin' me what I done for them; then I made that stupid speech so the Captain could get those stolen goods across town safely, and Stitch showed up. He told everyone what I done to him, and I felt ashamed. I felt so ashamed that they knew I was gonna keep the money, and I threw my partner out the airship to keep it. But they didn't care. Cap and I both think if we went back to Worker Town, that statue'd already be back up from where I left it on the ground. Worst part about it is that somebody died. Not Stitch, I mean. He killed someone, and was gonna kill me; he had to die. The worst part was that some mudder half my age I met the night before threw himself in front of me and took the blast meant to put me six feet under. It eats at me."

"You're a different man than you were when you came aboard, Jayne," Inara said. "The Jayne I used to know would never have cared about what anybody thought of him, would have thrown that man out of the air ship and never thought twice about it, would never have felt ashamed of it, no matter who found out. You do. I think _Serenity's_ been good for you. I think it's changed you for the better. You've shown loyalty to the Captain and the crew here, and in your own, weird sort of way, you care."

Jayne said nothing. What could he say? Somewhere along the line, he'd lost his edge. Maybe that was a good thing, and maybe it weren't. Inara waited a few long moments, and then walked away.

Jayne put the glass upside down over the top of the jug and carried it to his bunk. He needed to be alone for a while. Fortunately, they were three days away from their destination, so he had at least that long to get his head together.

 **(Author's Note: The inspiration for this chapter for me was the nagging question I have been asking myself for years, namely whether or not Inara ever told anyone that she was responsible in part for getting the Land-Lock removed from** _ **Serenity**_ **. In this case, obviously, the answer is yes, and I imagine that she not only told Jayne, but told the rest of the crew as well. It also gave me the opportunity to have Jayne stick his neck out, and in a moment of vulnerability, to confess his feeling to Kaylee. Kaylee, already being "sweet on the Doctor", would never reciprocate those feelings, but I figured she would at least thank him, and talk him down gently. For those that don't recognize it, the first part of this story, containing the conversation between Mal and Jayne, is verbatim from the end of Episode 7, "Jaynestown".)**

 **(Next Time: Evergreen Federal - The crew of _Serenity_ rob an armored car, then dispose of the evidence as the catalyzer on the port compression coil begins to fail.)**


	39. Evergreen Federal

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 39: Evergreen Federal  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Probably guessed** **we** **mean to be thieving here, but** **what we** **'re** **after is not yours** **,** **so** **let's** **have** **no undue fussing** **."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 7, "Jaynestown", and Episode 8, "Out of Gas".)**

On St. Albans, in Genecia City, on a quiet street lined by piles of snow that had been plowed the night before, a large armored truck glided up and hovered two feet off the ground above the street in front of Evergreen Federal, an Alliance-insured bank.

Bobby and Hal opened the rear door, Bobby with his shotgun at the ready, and Hal with a bag of platinum coins in each hand; Davis, the driver and leader of the trio, put the vehicle in park and radioed his dispatch. "Truck twenty-nine, at stop number four. Over."

"Read you, Davis," said the woman at dispatch. "Smooth sailing."

As the pair approached the bank, two people, a man with dark brown hair and a young woman with dark skin rushed up to the men, weapons drawn. The man had a shotgun, and the woman had an oversized pistol with a wooden stock in her hands. "Drop the weapon!" the man shouted.

Bobby tried to get his shotgun around, but stopped when he heard a rifle being cocked behind him. The robbers had the drop on them, and everyone knew it. "Back to the truck," said the man behind them, and the five approached the driver's side of the car, where Davis could see them through the window.

The big man, the one who came from behind, had slung his weapon, and held a large, horn-handled knife at Hal's throat. "Open the door. You even reach for that radio, I cut both their throats, starting with this one," he said.

Davis mulled his options. The truck was open to being cleaned out, and they already had most of what was left in the truck, in Hal's hands. He considered driving off, but Bobby's and Hal's widows would never forgive him.

"You open that door," said the other man, "we take the cargo, which ain't yours, and leave you alive and unharmed."

Davis sighed, and opened the door. The woman quickly disarmed him, even taking his holdout piece, holstered at his right ankle. They lined the men up against the wall, and all three of them expected to be executed on the spot, but instead, the big man and the woman took the bags and got into the back of the truck, closing the doors while the smaller man with the dark hair got into the cab and the truck floated off towards the edge of town.

" _Gorramit,_ " Davis said. "I sure as hell hope they don't dock our pay for this."

 **O-O-O**

Mal drove the truck out of town and across the countryside, the repulsors powerful enough to keep them well above the snow, but not enough to take the heavy vehicle truly airborne. He got on the intercom to the back.

"Good job, people. Fanty and Mingo will be happy, once we get their share to them."

"Good thing their intel on this job was so accurate," Zoe said back. "If we'd skunked this job, they woulda flayed us alive. How far to the ship?"

"Ten minutes," said Mal, looking to the rear vid screen. "But we got ourselves a problem."

Behind them, two police cars were giving chase. "We got company," Mal said. "Two black and whites, but not Feds. This ride is gonna get pretty interesting."

He pulled out his hand-comm and contacted the ship. "Wash, open her up, we're comin' in hot."

"Roger, Mal," said Wash inside the Bridge of _Serenity_ , who called back to Kaylee to get to the cargo bay and open up the airlock and lower the ramp.

Mal pressed the accelerator pedal to the floor as he raced down the road and towards the ship. The police wouldn't bother to attempt to shoot the truck; it was too heavily armored, and all involved knew that the repulsor modules were shielded, too, so there was no hope of stopping the truck until they got to their destination. What the cops didn't know, however, was Mal's advantage, that their destination was mobile, too.

 _Serenity_ had been almost out of money again; this job was their salvation, if they could pull it off right. _Serenity_ had no bow markings, no identifying characteristics, and with nearly 40,000 Fireflies still in the sky, they'd be very hard to track down. They'd get out of cortex range, and out of the shipping lanes, once they'd contacted Fanty and Mingo on Beaumonde to inform them of the job's success, and take a nearly a week getting to Greenleaf to drop their cut, a ride that ordinarily would take barely eighteen hours. This was one of the few times they'd be turning over Fanty and Mingo Sanchez's cut to a third party, rather than making the trade in the Maidenhead as they usually did, in the heart of New Dunsmuir.

Finally, the ship swung into view as Mal turned the armored car off the road. He raced across the break in the forest and slammed on the air brakes as the car hit the ramp, bringing it to a halt just before they hit the aft wall. "Wash, we're on," yelled Mal into the comm. "Go!"

Kaylee had already hit the buttons to close the airlock and raise the ramp, and she could see the cops exiting their cars as _Serenity_ began to lift off. As Mal and the others exited the armored car, they could hear "plinking" sounds as bullets struck their engines as the cops made a futile attempt to bring down the ship.

Zoe and Jayne began unloading bags from the back. "Looks like some bills and a lot of coins, but mostly small bills and even smaller coins," Zoe said. "Not a fortune, but probably three or four thousand in platinum, total."

Mal nodded, tousling Kaylee's head. "Kaylee, close up all the exits to the cargo bay when you leave. We're gonna depressurize the bay in a few minutes."

"Sure thing, Cap'n," Kaylee said, setting about her work.

"Wash," Mal said over the intercom, "keep us in low orbit until I give the word, then set a course like we discussed."

"Our best take ever," Jayne said, taking the last bag out of the back of the car.

"Get that all in the smuggler's hold," Mal said, "then everybody suit up."

In ten minutes, the ship was in low orbit, with word from Wash that fighters were scrambling from a Fed base on the far side of the planet, and there was already a bulletin out on the Cortex for an unidentified Firefly. "We gotta hurry," Mal said, putting his helmet on and then depressurizing the cargo bay. When the last of the air had hissed out, he opened the airlock door and lowered the ramp.

All three of the ship's fighters moved to the front of the armored car and began to push it towards the entrance to the ship, which was a fairly easy task, since the repulsors made the craft almost weightless. They quickly pushed it to the ramp, then down it, and watched as it tumbled off the end and began to roll over and over again, further and further into St. Albans' gravity well. Finally, it hit the atmosphere, and as the trio watched from the airlock, it left a flare streaking across the sky until it exploded into a starburst, like a firework, and flamed out.

"That takes care of the evidence," Mal said over the suit's comm, "Wash, get us the hell out of here!"

The ship began to wheel away from the planet, and out of low orbit as everyone headed inside, and Mal hit the buttons to close the airlock. Once the cargo bay was pressurized again, they all got out of their suits and headed upstairs to the galley, where Kaylee and Book were making dinner. Kaylee was busy putting the finishing touches on a cake that she had made for Simon's birthday, but that was a secret; when she was finished, she tucked the cake into one of the galley cubbies, and places a handful of candles and a box of matches next to it before closing the door.

"How did the caper go?" Book asked.

"Couple'a curve balls," Mal said. "Two police cars gave chase."

"I heard the bullets. Any damage?" Book asked.

"Wash would have said something if there'd been any; looks like we got away clean." Mal replied. "And best of all, we sent the armored car into re-entry, where it burned up. Nothing left to link us to the heist, except the money, and that's well hidden. We're not taking any chances on getting stopped, though. We're heading far off axis and out of range of anyone and everything."

"Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought, Captain," Book replied.

"Like I said, preacher, we don't take any chances we don't have to," Mal said.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, deep in the bowels of the ship, in the engine's core, the catalyzer that Bester had sabotaged over a year before began to fail, the leads starting to melt. In less than two hours, it would explode, causing a fire in the engine room, which would destroy the auxiliary life support and threaten to breach the atomic matter pile in the core's heart.

Alfred Bester was long dead, what was left of his body dumped in the deserts of Ezra, where the buzzards could feed on it, but his legacy lived on. _Serenity's_ chickens were about to come home to roost.

 **O-O-O**

That night, at dinner, the entire crew of the ship, save for Wash, who was still deviously navigating the boat out of the shipping lanes, congregated in the dining area for dinner, and Mal toasted to _Serenity's_ most valuable job to date.

"To Fanty and Mingo," Mal said, raising his glass.

"To Fanty and Mingo!" everyone exclaimed, and clinked glasses.

Book smiled. "In honor of the occasion," he said, "I'd like to tell a story about something that took place at the abbey when I was a mere novitiate. It's a tale I like to call, 'The Prettiest Shepherd'."

 **(Author's Note: And with that, we are set up for what I consider one of the most gripping stories in the Firefly 'Verse. "Out of Gas", Episode 8, is a bottle episode, virtually all of it taking place aboard the ship, and the main tale is very simple: as the story flashes back and forward and back again, Mal attempts to repair the engine on the disabled ship. The most interesting aspect of the episode is the flashbacks to how Mal met most of the crew of the ship, at least not those introduced in the pilot episode "Serenity". Zoe's introduction is never seen, and instead we are treated to Mal showing her, an old friend and ally from the war, his new ship. In the end, even the tenth crew member, the ship itself, is introduced. Many of the flashback scenes have been incorporated into this series of ficlets, and it was fodder for introducing and featuring many of the characters, most notably Bester, as I recreated most of the flashbacks and giving my own spin on them. The episode itself, despite its simplicity, is still filled with unanswered questions, and is good for at least a couple of stories, most notably, what happened on board the shuttles after they abandoned** _ **Serenity**_ **, and what happened when Shuttle 2 returned to the ship and found Mal almost dead on the floor of the Bridge? Well, fret not, because that is a tale I intend to tell very soon. I hope you have enjoyed this mini-episode; I will try to come up with another three or four, possibly more, before the end. As always, please consider following or favoriting if you are enjoying this tale, or dropping me a PM or a review to let me know how I'm doing. I always love hearing from my fans!)**

 **(Next Time: Maybe I Should Do That Then - After a successful (and illegal) salvage mission off Ita Moon, the crew of the _SS Walden_ pick up a distress signal far outside the range of the Cortex, a distress signal from a Firefly-class transport called _Serenity_.)**


	40. Maybe I Should Do That Then

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 40: Maybe I Should Do That Then  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Hey! What do you two think you're doing, fightin' at a time like this? You'll use up all the air."  
-Jayne Cobb – Episode 8, "Out of Gas"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 8, "Out of Gas".)**

Raymond Sash, the Captain of the _SS Walden_ , a salvage ship, sat at a table in the common area with Billy Daniels, playing chess. He'd have Billy checkmated in about six moves, but Billy, despite being a brilliant mechanic, wasn't smart enough to see it yet. Sash had just moved his rook into position for his endgame when the call came in from the Bridge, Stern's voice coming over the intercom. "Cap? Better get up here."

Sash stood up and winked at Billy. "You got lucky. You don't know how lucky you just got."

"Yeah?" Billy said. "You just wait. I intend to finish this game, and then we'll see who's lucky."

"Fine," said Sash, heading fore. "You leave the board as it is. You move a single piece, I'll know. I have every piece on that board memorized, Billy."

Billy laughed as the Cap left the room.

Sash made his way around the kitchen and towards the Bridge, passing Lacey and Jen on his way, giving a curt nod. It was on his way to the Bridge, which doubled as a lifeboat, that he realized that the boat had come to a halt. There weren't any proximity alarms, and after their illegal salvage on Ita, they were moving far outside the shipping lanes, and out of range of the Cortex, so the likelihood of being stopped by an Alliance patrol, or even running into Reavers, was low.

Sash reached the bridge. "What do you got for me, Stern?"

Stern spun around in his seat. "Something crashed our Nav Sat," he said. "We've gotta correct it before we can navigate."

"What could that be? Please don't tell me that's a Reaver tactic," Sash said.

"It's a prank, usually, but out here in the middle of nowhere, if I had to guess, I'd say it's likely we're looking at a ship in distress."

"What do you have to do to find out?" Sash asked.

"Give me fifteen, twenty minutes to go over the logs and telemetry and see if I can dig out a signal. You wanna stand by in case I turn it up early?" Stern asked.

"Yeah," Sash said, sitting down in the empty copilot's chair. "I was about to whip Billy's _pigu_ in another game of chess, but that gets old."

Stern wasn't listening much, he was already going through the ship's server, pulling up anomalies and elements on the Nav Sat telemetry, until he found what he wanted approximately ten minutes later. "Here we go," he said to the Captain.

Stern punched a button on his touch screen, and suddenly, the Bridge speakers crackled to life:

"This is the Firefly transport _Serenity,_ five days out from Greenleaf, coordinates 49528.27 by 38109.33 by neg-07428.21. Our engine is out due to an explosion that also disabled our auxiliary life support. We vented over half our oxygen blowing the fire out the airlock, are running out of breathable air and are both outside of range of the Cortex or reasonable hope of Alliance rescue. We are in extreme distress and calling all ships within range to aid and support. Repeating. This is the Firefly transport _Serenity,_ five days out from Greenleaf, coordinates-"

Stern turned off the signal, having typed in the coordinates as the message played. "That's about two and a half, maybe three hours out from here, Cap."

"We hit a few Fireflies out on the scrap belt off Ita. Maybe we've got what she needs to get her going again. Can you signal back?" Sash asked.

"No, sir. We're still way too far out," Stern said. "Chances are, nobody will be alive by the time we get there."

"In that case, we may have another salvage job; we could walk away from this with a whole ship we can sell for parts." Sash said. "Set a course."

"You got it, Boss," Stern said, punching buttons on the keyboard of his station, then turning the wheel sharply as he engaged the engines.

 **O-O-O**

It was slightly over two and a half hours before they had _Serenity_ in sight, and the entire crew of eight congregated on the Bridge.

"Do you want me to hail her, Cap?" Stern asked. Jesse was sitting in the copilot's chair, doing a scan.

"No," said Sash. "Pull up around her; if it'll fit, get the arms on either side, and go Bridge-to-Bridge. Go in high, upside down, then duck down behind her and bring her up once we're flipped back over and ready to envelop. I wanna look in the windows and see if anybody's moving around in there, but I don't want to make an appearance until I'm ready to hail."

"Yes, sir," said Stern.

"Both shuttles been launched," Jesse said. "And she ain't got no life support, Cap. Not reading anything from the core at all, except the atomic matter pile, SCRAMmed. If this is a trap, they're making a good show of it."

"Any escape pods launched?" Sash asked.

"Uh… no. Doesn't look like it," Jesse said as Stern maneuvered into position. "Escape pods'd be useless out here anyway. Even shuttles'd never make it anywhere near the lanes or any moons or planets. They probably launched the shuttles in a desperate attempt to get picked up. Probably hours out by now."

Stern pulled the ship up as close as he could. "I see a man on the Bridge, but just one. He's either dead or sleeping," Stern said, lowering his binoculars and handing them over to the Captain.

Sash looked through the binoculars. "Looks like he's wrapped in a blanket; if he ain't dead, it's probably powerful cold over there by now. Noble guy, Captain going down with his ship," he said.

"That's assuming it ain't a trap," Lacey, the first officer, said.

"That, too," Sash said. "Okay, everybody stand clear. I'm gonna get on the vid."

The ship ducked down behind the Firefly. People scattered over to one side of the Bridge as Sash stood before the camera used by the hailing comm. He put a finger to his lips and signaled for quiet, then lowered his hand and used it to push a button.

"Firefly transport _Serenity_ , we're just arrived in answer to your distress call. Please respond." No answer.

After waiting several seconds, the Sash spoke again. "Firefly _Serenity,_ we are the _SS Walden,_ here in answer to your distress call. Please respond."

He turned off the comm and waited for an answer. None came, and the ship finally ascended until it was nose-to-nose with _Serenity_ , the long, scaffold "arms" on either side of the ship extending near to the back of the Firefly, which were ideal for salvage or towing.

"He's moving, Cap," said Jesse, who was holding the binoculars up to his eyes.

"Damnit," said Lacey. "I thought this was gonna be an easy job."

"Calm down," said Sash. "Still could be. If he's the only one aboard, we could still make out on this deal. Everybody shut up again. I don't want him to know we're all listening."

The comm crackled to life as the man in the blanket appeared on screen. "This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the Firefly transport _Serenity._ Thank you for responding. Over."

Sash flipped the hailing radio back on. "This is Captain Raymond Sash of the _SS Walden._ What is your damage, Captain Reynolds?"

Sash noted that Reynolds appeared to be both relieved and excited. If this was a set-up, he was a good actor. That would make things easier. _Time to pluck a pigeon,_ he thought.

Reynolds took a few deep breaths; his breathing was ragged and heavy, as if he wasn't getting enough oxygen. "We had a blow out in our engine room. Catalyzer on the port compression coil blew, starting a fire and almost killing my first mate. Mechanic says the explosion took out our auxiliary life support, and we had blown the fire out the airlock, so we were already short on air before we realized we had a problem with the O2. Launched my shuttles uh…" he checked the clock on the dashboard, "about three hours ago, give or take. Four onboard each. We got ourselves a Doctor, a Companion, and a Shepherd between 'em both. We're all in need of assistance."

"I'm sorry for your troubles, Captain Reynolds. They sound many. But you do understand, I can't invite you aboard my vessel. I don't know you."

"I ain't askin' for a ride, Captain," Captain Reynolds said. "Just a little push's all."

"Right," Sash said. "Your mechanical trouble. Your compression coil, you say?"

"It was the catalyzer," said Reynolds.

"Not even the coil," said Sash. "Catalyzer's a nothing part, Captain."

"It's nothin' 'till you don't got one," said Captain Reynolds, "then it appears to be everything."

"Well, it is possible we might have something that can do you; we just come from a big salvage mission off Ita Moon."

"I'd appreciate it," Reynolds said.

"Trouble is," said Sash, "how can I know for certain your story's true?" He paused for a long beat. "Ambush could be waiting for me and my people on the other side."

"You can plainly see my shuttles've been launched, just like I said. And by now you've scanned me; you know I got no life support."

Sash scrutinized Reynolds carefully. He was open mouthed and panting, and very, very afraid that Sash would turn him away. A wise man on Earth-That-Was had once said, "Trust, but verify," many centuries ago, he had learned when he was younger. He decided to trust Reynolds enough to do business. And when he was sure that the engine needed no further work, and that Reynolds was alone, he'd kill the other Captain and take his ship, end of story. Something told him to just wait it out until the man was out of air completely, then have everyone suit up, couple, pop the airlock, and then take care of things, but that could get messy, especially if the crew was alive and they were just playing dead over there. He shrugged off the thought.

"I don't expect to see any weapons when we board," Sash said. He had Reynolds over a barrel, and they both knew it. Having the man unarmed from the start would make things so much easier.

"And I do expect to see that engine part before I open the door," Reynolds countered.

"I feel like maybe we can do business," Sash said, and flipped the switch off of the radio. "Stern, bring her in for docking with their forecouple. Billy, go into the cargo bay and find the best of the catalyzers we got for a Firefly."

"Yes, sir," they said in unison, and Billy headed off.

"Everyone, arm yourselves for a big shootout. Pistols for everyone and at least one rifle. And grab some mags, and a pistol for Billy while you're at it. Be ready in five minutes." The crew headed off to get ready for docking. "Jesse, you go, too. You're coming with us. We take this ship, you and Stern will both be piloting it to Beaumonde, where we can dump it with Fanty and Mingo. I'll pilot the _Walden_ myself, time comes."

"You got it, Cap," Jesse said, and went to go arm himself.

 **O-O-O**

Less than ten minutes later, they were through the forecouple and inside _Serenity's_ airlock. There were two, diamond shaped windows, quite small, with one on either side of the central seam to the inner airlock door, but they were big enough for Sash's purposes. He jammed the catalyzer, which looked practically new, into the window with a "thunk", and within a couple of seconds, the Captain of _Serenity_ opened the airlock door a few feet, allowing all five of the boarding party inside, which the Captain did not immediately notice were armed with assault rifles and pistols.

Sash noticed the burned and strewn cargo containers that were lined up in front of the doorway, further confirming Reynolds' story of the fire and depressurized cargo bay, and watched as the pressure differential blew fresh, warm air through the Captain's hair. His eyes were closed, and he breathed deeply with a relieved smile on his face. Just as he opened his eyes again, everyone raised their weapons and Sash cocked his automatic at him. Reynolds' face was an undulating ocean of shifting emotional currents: first, an expression of shock, then anger, and then resignation as the Captain raised his hands proximate to the sides of his head, looking like he wanted to say something… unfortunate.

"Check him," Sash said, and one of his men began to frisk Captain Reynolds for weapons. "Check the ship; start at the cockpit and work your way down."

"Is this what you meant by 'ambush'?" Reynolds said acidly.

"We're just verifying your story," Sash said as Harrison began to head off to search the ship. "You find anybody on board not supposed to be," Sash called out to his man, "you shoot 'em."

"I thought we were gonna be reasonable about this," Reynolds said.

They waited for what seemed like fifteen minutes as Harrison searched the ship, and Sash waited for him to return and report, or for the telltale sound of gunfire, which meant they would unload on Reynolds and start hunting the crew of the ship, and kill on sight.

"Ship's clear, Captain," Harrison said as he descended the staircase from the catwalk on the upper deck.

"You check the engine room?" Sash asked.

"It's like he said," Harrison replied. "Catalyzer's blown. That's all he needs."

"You know," the Captain said, his hands still up, Sash's pistol the only weapon still trained on Reynolds, "anything that's worth anything is really right here in this cargo bay. So you take a look around, decide what you think is fair."

"Already decided," Sash said, and shot Reynolds once in the gut, then tucked the pistol into his pants as the Captain collapsed and lay bleeding on the deck. "We're taking your ship."

Sash then turned to his men. "Billy, you get this plugged in. Jesse, you call Stern and get him over here. You and him are gonna pilot this pile of _go-se_ out of here. You'll get her as far as –"

Sash was stopped by the sound of a pistol cocking behind him. "Jesse," Reynolds said, back on his feet and aiming a semiautomatic at the crew of the _Walden_ , "don't call Stern. Billy, leave the catalyzer."

"Do as he says," Sash said without bothering to turn around and face Reynolds. He knew when he had been beaten, and didn't intend to risk his crew, no matter how tempting the prize.

Billy lowered the catalyzer to the deck and left it, while the crew began to file out toward the forcouple. "Take your people and go," Reynolds ordered.

Sash began to head for the door himself. "You woulda done the same," he said, briefly looking back at Reynolds, who had the semi leveled at him.

"We can already see I haven't," Reynolds retorted. "Now get the hell off my ship," he ordered, then broke his aim long enough to punch the button to close the inner airlock doors as his other hand clutched the hole in the left side of his lower abdomen. Sash watched the doors close, then headed back inside the ship.

"Well, that was a tremendous waste of time," Lacey said.

"Easy, Lacey. Sometimes you get the bull, and sometimes you get the horns. We coulda overwhelmed him easy, but at least one of us would have taken a bullet. We're too far away from med help to ensure they'd survive, and I'm not risking my crew for the sake of greed. We got plenty out of our salvage mission. Be happy with that."

That seemed to mollify Lacey and the other members of the boarding party. "Jesse," Sash said, "tell Stern to weigh anchor and put us back on course. We're done with this little fiasco."

And with that, the crew of the _SS Walden_ went on their merry and called it a day.

 **(Author's Note: I originally intended to name the other ship the _Elysium Green,_ before I discovered that the Wiki had a name for the ship, its Captain, and many of its crew members, including ones not explicitly named in the episode "Out of Gas". I was surprised at the level of detail for a series of one-off characters that appear for all of 5 minutes in this episode, but it's canon, so I had to go with it. I think the chapter worked out pretty well, all in all. You may have noticed that much of the dialogue of the radio conversation between Mal and Sash, as well as the scene in the cargo bay are verbatim from Episode 8, "Out of Gas", with my own take and spin on things. I added quite a bit to it, and at over 3000 words, this is my longest ficlet to date. I thought it would be interesting to show this story from the point of view of the other crew. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it.)**

 **(Next Time: Shuttle 2 - As Mal waits for someone to answer _Serenity's_ distress beacon, Zoe awakens onboard the shuttle and comes to a decision.)**


	41. Shuttle 2

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 41: Shuttle 2  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I thought I ordered you all off the ship. I call you back?"  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – Episode 8, "Out of Gas"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 8, "Out of Gas".)**

 **(Aboard Shuttle 1)**

"What's that smell?" Jayne asked as the shuttle headed away from _Serenity_ at space normal speed.

"Smell?" Inara asked from the cockpit. Jayne came forward and poked his head in.

"Yeah, smell. Smells like an opium den in here. You smoke opium?" Jayne said.

"It's incense," Inara answered simply.

"Incense?" Jayne asked. "What's that?"

"It's a stick with a fragrant powder fused to it. You burn it and it fills the room with a desirable, aromatic smoke," Inara answered. "I use it to stimulate my clients."

"Sounds fishy to me," Jayne said. "I don't like it."

Inara sighed. "We should never have left him. We should go back for Mal."

Jayne scoffed. " _Hundan_ said we make our way as far as we can get with what we got. We ain't goin' back for him. Cap made his choice. Until or unless we get the return signal, we press on."

Inara wanted to burst into tears. She didn't reply to Jayne as she continued piloting away from _Serenity_. Jayne headed back with a dour face to sit with Kaylee and Shepherd Book as they sat in frightened silence at their predicament.

 **O-O-O**

 **(Shuttle 2)**

Wash continued his task of piloting the shuttle in a course one hundred and eighty degrees away from the other shuttle and _Serenity_. He worked his controls expertly, but his thoughts were elsewhere, in the main compartment, where Doctor Simon Tam was attending to Wash's wife, who was still unconscious from a blow to the head that she took when the engine room aboard the ship had exploded.

River was playing solitaire on the floor of the shuttle, next to Zoe, who was laid out on a stretcher. As she played, she spoke to Zoe; she had read somewhere that talking helped coma victims, but she wasn't really making sense, babbling in Mandarin, Latin, and English as she talked to the unconscious woman. Simon, for his part, was checking her vitals every few minutes and shining a light in her eyes. The woman clearly had a concussion from being bowled over by the blast, and Simon was damned if he knew whether or not she'd ever come out of it.

After they had been underway for over two hours, though, Zoe did begin to stir. She moaned in her sleep, and then her eyes opened. "Wash?" Simon called. Wash abandoned his pilot's chair after putting the shuttle on autopilot, and rushed to his wife's side.

Zoe's eyes fluttered open, and her husband's face was the first thing she saw, his visage full of tears. "Zoe, I was so worried; they said your heart stopped."

"What happened?" she croaked. "I pushed Kaylee out of the way, then I got knocked back. That's the last thing I remember."

"You were badly injured," Wash said. "There was an explosion in the engine room, and the engine stopped turning. The auxiliary life support was knocked out, so the Captain ordered us to abandon ship in the shuttles."

Zoe looked around slightly; she appeared to be in pain as she moved her head. "Where's the Cap? He on the other shuttle?"

Wash looked embarrassed. "He stayed on _Serenity_. We sent out a beacon and he insisted that he wouldn't abandon his ship in hopes that someone would answer it."

"He stayed aboard?" Zoe cried out softly, as she tried to get up. Simon and Wash held her down.

"You need to lie still, Zoe," Simon said. "Don't try to move."

"You have to go back for him, Wash," Zoe insisted.

"He won't come, Zoe. He was adamant about staying behind."

"We had a motto in the Overlanders. 'When you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't crawl, you find someone to carry you.' We leave no man behind." She growled, "I'm giving you an order as first officer, Wash. Turn around and head back to _Serenity_. You knock him down and drag him into this shuttle if you have to. You take my weapon and take him at gunpoint if need be, but you get him on this shuttle and you take him with us."

"Zoe, he'll likely be out of air before we can get there," Wash said.

"I don't care, Wash. You go. Now. No more arguing," Zoe said firmly.

"Okay, honey. I'll head back immediately." He returned to the cockpit and they could feel the ship's gravity drive strain as the ship wheeled around and began heading back to its point of origin.

"Zoe," said Simon, "I need you to stay awake for as long as you can. Whatever you do, you do not fall asleep on me, understand? If you fall asleep, you might never wake up again."

 **O-O-O**

Shuttle 2 approached _Serenity_ , which was still floating, apparently dead in space. She docked on the starboard side, and the docking assembly pulled the shuttle against the ship, locking the shuttle's hatch to the ship's bulkhead, and a green light lit up on Wash's panel. "We're docked!" he called out to the rest of his passengers.

Wash left the cockpit and activated the hatch, stepping out onto the catwalk overlooking the cargo bay. "Heat's on," he called back. "Air seems fresh. Mal must have gotten the ship fixed somehow. Simon, come out here and help me find the Captain. You head aft; I'm going to the Bridge."

As Simon headed downstairs and to the common area, Wash picked his way through the destroyed dining area and up to the Bridge, where he found Mal on the floor, in a pool of his own blood. He rolled Mal over and saw that he had been gut-shot. He checked for a pulse, which seemed very weak and fast, then picked up the microphone and got on the intercom.

"Simon, Captain's in the Bridge, but he's shot and unconscious. Bring the stretcher; we need to get him to the infirmary." He then slapped the recall button on the side of his station, calling back Shuttle 1.

 **O-O-O**

 **(Shuttle 1)**

An indicator lit up on Inara's panel, and with it, her face lit up as well. "Mal's calling us back!" she exclaimed, but did nothing to the controls. She had not told anyone, but over an hour and a half before, she had turned the shuttle around to go back for him _._

 **O-O-O**

 _ **(Serenity)**_

A couple of minutes later, Simon brought the stretcher into the Bridge. "You're right about the engine," Simon said. "I made it to the engine room, and the core is turning again. Help me get him on the stretcher."

Wash and Simon worked to get Mal loaded, and then carried him aft. Over the cargo bay, they passed River helping Zoe towards the infirmary, as she was still much too shaky to walk on her own. They quickly carried Mal down the stairs and through the aft bulkhead of the cargo bay, and then into the infirmary, where they loaded him on the chair in the center.

Simon took the Captain's vitals, and blanched when he realized that Mal's blood pressure barely registered, and his heart was racing. "I need to remove the bullet and stitch him up, but he's far too weak," Simon said. "I need to get him blood. You're a universal donor, so I'm going to need you to donate at least two pints of blood."

Wash rolled up his sleeve and sat down on a rolling stool just as River and Zoe came staggering into the infirmary, and Simon helped Zoe onto a countertop with a warming bed on it; he turned on the warmers before placing a glass bottle onto a rolling steel table next to Wash's stool and running an IV line into his arm. Simon did what he could for Mal while the blood collected, infusing him with IV fluids; meanwhile, River sat out in the common area and read while Wash and Zoe talked.

After a time, the collection bottle was full, and Simon transferred the life-giving liquid into a plastic pouch before reattaching the bottle to Wash's IV again and collecting more blood. He ran a line to Mal's arm, and began infusing blood into his Captain, who slowly began to color up from his grey pallor, bit by bit.

Simon ran a unit of IV fluids into Wash's other arm and decided it was time for him to try and treat the Captain. He dug into the bullet hole, working with a camera to locate the fragments of the bullet, and sewed up his intestines where he found damage, then sutured the wound and injected Mal with Isoprovalene to prevent infection and subsequent septic shock.

Simon then moved to inject Wash and Mal both with Beta-Haridol, a drug that was designed to increase the body's production of blood.

It was around this time that Inara, Kaylee, Book, and Jayne came through the doorway.

"Welcome back," Wash said to them. "That was quick."

"We were already on our way back," Inara said, a shocked look on her face when she saw the condition of the Captain. "I couldn't just let Mal die. What happened to him?"

"It's not clear," Wash said as Zoe waved from her bed, "but the Captain somehow got the part to fix the engine, so life support is back to normal, but somehow he got shot in the gut for his troubles. We found him bleeding on the floor of the Bridge; he must have passed out before he could send the recall signal. That was me, by the way."

Simon filled the pouch with a second unit of blood, and began to drain a third – which was dangerous, but necessary – from Wash.

Not long after, Mal's eyes slowly opened. Zoe, who was looking at the Captain, noticed first. "Welcome back, sir," she said.

"I go someplace?" Mal asked.

Book was stepping into the infirmary as Inara and Jayne stood in the doorway. "Very nearly," he said.

 **O-O-O**

In a forgettable hole in the wall that served as a bar outside of the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone, Eilish approached a clutch of men and women celebrating at the bar. One of the men was huge, with long, flowing hair, and an ugly face that sported a bushy mustache and an even bushier black beard. The man appeared to be the leader of the group, and from what she had gleaned from the conversation she overheard from them, the huge man was the Captain of a transport ship. She waited for a lull in their conversation, then addressed the man.

"Hello," she said. "I'm Bridget. Buy me a drink?"

The man smiled. "I'd love to. I'm Monty. Pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

 **(Author's Note: And so we come to the end of one of my favorite episodes, "Out of Gas". I always wondered what happened on the shuttles, and how Zoe decided upon awakening to turn the shuttle around. Now we know. Also, Bridget's (Saffron/Eilish) appearance, while unexpected when I first started writing this ficlet, makes sense at this juncture to the overall arc of the story.)**

 **(Next Time: Guild Law - With the deadline for her annual physical examination looming, Inara hires _Serenity_ to take her to Ariel.)**


	42. Guild Law

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 42: Guild Law  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **You ever have to service a really hideous client, with boils and the like?"  
-Kaylee Frye – Episode 2, "The Train Job"**

It was late in the evening, after dinner, when Inara came to find Mal on the Bridge. It had been a few weeks since his gunshot wound, and after they put into port at Greenleaf, _Serenity_ had its auxiliary life support system repaired by a professional, with the housing and over two dozen reports replaced. Further, Mal had incurred the expense of having a second auxiliary life support system installed in the cargo bay. Now, if a similar explosion ever occurred in the engine room, there would be no chance that they would run out of air. Mal's recovery had been slow, but with the help of the opioids that Simon had kept pumping into him, it had been manageable.

"Mal? Do you have a moment? I need to talk business with you," Inara's voice was soft, and almost apologetic.

"Sure," Mal stepped toward the exit from the Bridge, and Inara led him to the balcony overlooking the cargo bay, which is where the pair usually had their "meetings", since she was loathe to invite the Captain into her shuttle. "What is it, Ambassador?"

Inara took a deep breath. "As you know, as I told you when I agreed to rent Shuttle 1, I am required by the law of the Companion Guild that I go to a Core hospital once a year for my annual physical. I have less than a month to complete that task, or have my membership in the guild suspended until I do. I am prepared to pay an equitable rate for you to ferry me there, and wait the two or three days it'll take for me to complete my exams."

Mal thought for a long moment. "Two-hundred-and-fifty platinum, plus fuel, food, and berthing fees."

Inara smirked. "Two hundred platinum, plus fuel and berthing fees. You can pay for your own food."

"Two-twenty-five," Mal countered.

"Done," Inara said, and offered her hand to Mal, who shook it.

"We'll have to wait until we drop our cargo at our next stop before leaving. Where do you want to go? Londinium? Osiris? Perhaps Sihnon again?"

Inara smiled. "I've checked the star charts on the Cortex," she said. "Ariel is the closest to our next destination in this quadrant. I'll make an appointment at St. Lucy's Hospital in Ariel City once we have an estimated time of arrival."

Mal smiled back. "You've done your homework. I'll tell the crew at dinner."

 **O-O-O**

"It's a nine-day journey, then after two or three days on Ariel, five days back to the the border. Anyone have any thoughts or questions?" Mal asked the assembled crew at dinner.

"I'd like to stop at the Bathgate Abbey on Bellerophon," Shepherd Book said. "I wouldn't mind a couple of weeks of silent meditation, and the Core is not a place I care to go to."

Mal looked at Inara. "It's your call, Ambassador. Do you have any objections? Should add an extra day and a half to our journey."

Inara glanced briefly at Book, wondering to herself why going to the Core was such an unpleasant prospect for him. "No objections, Mal. That'll be fine. I'll even pay for the extra fuel."

"That's very generous of you, Inara," Book said. "Thank you."

Kaylee was practically bouncing in her chair. "How many people on Ariel? In Ariel City?"

Inara grinned broadly. "Seven and a half billion inhabitants on Ariel," she said. "Ariel City is huge; it has over eighteen million people, last time I checked."

"I can't wait to see it!" Kaylee exclaimed. "Where would you recommend I go to shop?"

"Well," Inara replied, "there's the Triplex; it's a huge shopping complex with over twelve-thousand stores; it started as one mall, then another completely new mall was built to serve as a stop-gap while they renovated the first one, and then a third. Now it's three malls, all connected together, in a triangle, hence the term 'triplex'. That way, if they have to renovate one, there are still the other two open and available."

"I could probably spend everything I've got left from the St. Albans job there, easily!" Kaylee said. "Plus my take from this trip. If only I was rich," she lamented with a pouty expression on her face.

 **O-O-O**

"So how many times have you been to Ariel?" Kaylee asked Inara as the pair sat in Shuttle 1, Inara seated behind Kaylee as the Companion brushed and styled the mechanic's hair.

"Five times," Inara said, "back when I was staff Companion on the _Astral Queen._ "

"I would love to be a chief mechanic on a luxury liner," Kaylee said. "The core for that ship is almost as big as our whole boat." She paused for a moment. "Don't get me wrong, I would never want to leave _Serenity_!"

"Of course not," Inara said. "Tell me, how did it feel when Mal first offered you a job aboard?"

Kaylee grinned, something that Inara could not see from where she was sitting. "Like I'd won the Alliance Interplanetary Lottery," she said. "I thought I'd spend my entire life stuck on Pollux. I'd spent over ten years reading up on accelerator cores and ship systems, but literally a week before I ended up meeting the Captain, I was working on a hovercar – my first job in months – and thinking that it had all been a waste of time. We're lucky to get a ship in once every three months in Bryn Mawr, and they're always fully staffed. I got lucky that Bester was so incompetent; the fix of the engine took me less than two minutes. Any skilled mechanic would have had _Serenity_ up in the air the same day she had landed."

A long silence settled over the women as Inara continued to brush. It was Kaylee again who finally broke the silence.

"Inara, what's it like being a companion, and what's the training like?"

Inara took a long breath and let it out slowly and deliberately. "It's like being all things to all people, like being a chameleon. You have to be a therapist, a musician, a politician, an expert conversationalist, and a lover. You have to be anything that anyone needs you to be at any time, and you have to be able to read them, to understand what they need you to be even when they themselves don't know it. As for training, a Companion's parents send them to the Training House, usually at age twelve."

"Twelve?" Kaylee asked, stunned. "You mean you have to learn to… that young?"

Inara laughed. "Oh, heavens no. We begin advanced schooling at age twelve. It's grueling work. You have to be beautiful, for starters, or the potential to grow into beauty, that much is a prerequisite, but you also have to have a mind capable of learning at a college level before you're even a teenager. You are tutored in music, dance, history, science, fencing, social studies and ancient cultures, dozens and dozens of other subjects as well; there's a lot we learn about Earth-That-Was, in addition to the cultures and traditions on many worlds in the 'Verse. We even learn anatomy and massage. When we turn eighteen, when we graduate to more… formal studies, then we are taught the art of lovemaking, to both men and women, and we practice on each other. Many young girls and boys wash out of the Academies long before that. They just don't have what it takes to keep up."

"You learn music? How many instruments do you play?" Kaylee asked.

"Well, let's see. I play the dulcimer, both the hammered and resonator varieties, the guitar, classical and folk, the flute, the piano, the violin and viola, and finally, my favorite instrument, the cello."

Kaylee was impressed. "And what about pregnancy? What happens if a Companion becomes pregnant by one of her clients?"

"We use a shot, called Depo-Provera ER, which lasts for over a year. Each year, we get a booster, which prevents pregnancy. There are rare occasions when the birth control fails and the Companion becomes pregnant anyway, but under Guild Law, there is no obligation on the part of the client to take care of the child, either financially or physically. It's up to the Companion as to whether or not they even inform the client, but due to the nature of what we do, a Companion will almost never have any idea who the child's father is. Sometimes a Companion will opt to have a child of her own, and most Houses have a dorm for children, and they are subjected to the same tutoring program that initiates enjoy, but this is also rare."

"And why the need for an annual physical if you're not sick?" Kaylee asked.

Inara was quiet for a very long time. "Inara?" Kaylee asked again.

"Kaylee," Inara finally replied, "can you keep a secret? I mean, a really big secret?"

"I'm not a gossip," Kaylee said, turning around and looking at Inara. "I can keep a secret."

"Kaylee, what I'm about to tell you, you can't tell anyone. Not the Captain, not Simon, not even your teddy bear."

"I promise," Kaylee said. "I ain't gonna tell nobody."

"I'm dying," Inara confessed.

"What?" Kaylee exclaimed, a horrified expression on her face.

"I have xenopolycythemia," Inara said. "It's always fatal, but it can lay dormant, without symptoms, for over a decade. People have been known to live for fifteen, sometimes twenty years with it before it finally becomes symptomatic and kills the victim."

Kaylee looked like she wanted to burst into tears. "And are you sym- sym-"

"Symptomatic? No. It's dormant. I've known for over a year and a half now; that's why I ended up leaving House Madrasa on Sihnon and started tooling around the 'Verse. I wanted to see as much of the systems as I could before the end." Inara's face was very serious.

"Does anyone else know?" Kaylee asked, her eyes a little wet.

"No one on the ship. Only my Doctors know," Inara said. "You're the first person I've ever told. Simon doesn't know, not even the people I lived with in the House were ever told."

"Kaylee wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and hugged Inara tightly. "Why don't you want anyone to know? And why tell me?"

Inara hugged her back, and waited until they broke the embrace to speak. "I don't want people treating me differently; and I told you because we're best friends, and going into this examination, they'll be running a test to see if I'm in the early stages. I'm frightened, even though I haven't had any symptoms. If the test is negative, I'll just say that it was the same as last year. I don't want to talk about it all the time, nor do I wish to dwell on it. I just wanted you to know, _meimei_."

"Then I'll do everything I can to act like I don't know; if you ever want to talk about it, you tell me. Until then, your secret is safe with me. But if you do begin to have symptoms, promise me you'll tell me right away so I can be there for you?"

Inara smiled again. "I promise, _meimei_. Now turn around and let me finish brushing your hair."

Kaylee did as Inara asked her, and sat, her back to the Companion, her friend, unseen tears rolling down her cheeks as she made happy and pleasant conversation with Inara in the time they had left together.

 **(Author's Note: As I have noted in previous chapters, it is canon that Inara was dying of an unknown and terminal illness, one that was kept secret from the crew. It seemed logical to me that Inara would be frightened going into her annual physical examination, and that she would want to tell someone. Kaylee seemed the logical choice. This chapter also gave me the opportunity to discuss some of what I've learned about Companion training and skills. I hope you found it insightful.)**

 **(Next Time: He Looks Better In Red - On the way to Ariel, River attacks Jayne with a butcher's knife.)**


	43. He Looks Better In Red

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 43: He Looks Better In Red  
By Gamera Obscura**

" _ **Gorram**_ **freak's completely off her axle!"  
-Jayne Cobb – Episode 9, "Ariel"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 9, "Ariel".)**

 _Serenity_ was still over a day out from Ariel, and Shepherd Book had disembarked over a week ago to meditate at the abbey. It was dinnertime, and the crew was milling about and fending for themselves, rather than having a typical sit-down meal together. Inara and Kaylee, who had already eaten, were playing mahjong, and Jayne was cleaning his antique revolver.

River watched her brother prepare a bowl of rice with sour tofu on it. She made a face at the smell, which was extremely unappetizing. "I don't want it," she said.

"River, you have to eat," Simon said. "It's good. It tastes like," he said, taking a bite with a pair of chopsticks, then blanched, as if he was unwilling to swallow. "It's good," he repeated himself, his mouth full.

"It smells like crotch," Jayne said, cleaning out and oiling the chambers on his revolver's wheel.

"Jayne!" Kaylee exclaimed.

"Well, it does," Jayne responded.

River was touching the minds of all of them; this was nothing new for her. She did it constantly. However, Jayne's mind was especially loud and distracting this evening, as it always was when he was maintaining his weapons. Thoughts of violence and murder kept pouring into River's mind like a violation.

"We don't even have to go someplace fancy," Wash's voice spilled out of the corridor and into the galley, followed by his physical form, along with that of his wife, Zoe. "We can just go to the park or something. Feed the pigeons."

"Sure, feed the pigeons, probably get the firing squad for littering," Zoe responded as the two stepped through the bulkhead and into the dining area.

"It's not that bad," Wash said.

"It _is_. It's a Core planet. It's spotless; there's sensors and where there ain't sensors, there's Feds. All central planets are the same."

River tried to listen to the conversation, but the images and voices in Jayne's mind kept drowning them out. Zoe frequently had thoughts or memories that were violent, thoughts of the various capers that she had pulled off, and many thoughts about the war. Mal was similar, but they were both tempered with a disgust for violence, and a longing for peace and tranquility. Jayne gloried in his violence, however. He loved it. He longed for it. It was starting to make River angry.

"Could you please tell my wife the fun she's missing out on?" Wash asked the room, plaintively as Zoe poured herself a drink from a metal pitcher.

Inara looked up and turned her head to face the couple from the semicircle of loungers in one corner of the room, next to the kitchen. "Ariel's quite a nice place, actually," she said. "There are some beautiful museums, not to mention some of the finest restaurants on the Core."

"But not boring like she made it sound," Wash said. "There's uh…" he faltered, making various confused sounds as he tried to figure out something that would persuade his wife to leave the ship with him.

Wash marched up to Simon, who by now had seated himself at the table along with River, and was eating. Wash glared down at him for help, and Simon turned his head and, with a slight "deer-in-the-headlights" look, began, "There's uh… hiking…"

"Yeah," said Wash.

"And… you can go swimming in a bioluminescent lake," Simon offered.

Zoe was unimpressed. "I don't care if it's got sunsets twenty-four hours a day, I ain't settin' foot on that planet."

"No one is settin' foot on that fancy rock," ordered the Captain as he strode into the room. "I don't want anyone leaving the ship. Come to think of it, I don't want anyone lookin' out of the windows, or talkin' loud. We're here to drop off Inara, that's it."

"What's the point of comin' to the Core if I can't even set foot off the boat?" Jayne asked, clearly annoyed.

"You could have gotten off with Shepherd Book at the Bathgate Abbey," Mal offered. "Coulda been meditatin' on the wonders of your rock garden by now."

"Beats just sittin'," complained Jayne, still thinking about putting a bullet in someone. In this case it was Simon. He clearly had it in for River's brother, and she was growing more agitated and annoyed by the moment. His jealousy over Kaylee's infatuation with Simon was troubling enough, but now it was taking a violent turn in Jayne's mind, and as far as River was concerned, he had just crossed a line. She took another bite of her revolting food and thought about spitting it in Jayne's face across the table.

"It _is_ just sitting," said Wash.

"So how long are you gonna be planet-side?" Zoe asked as Jayne finished with his revolver and put it in its holster, his gun belt coiled on the table in front of him. He pulled his horn-handled knife out of its scabbard and picked up a whetstone, which he placed on the table in front of him as River continued to glare.

"Shouldn't be more than a day or two," Inara replied.

"Big stop to renew your license to Companion," Wash said playfully. "Can I use 'Companion' as a verb?"

Jayne ran his tongue down the edge of his blade, wetting it in anticipation of sharpening it with the whetstone. He thought about cutting Simon's throat with it, which made River put her chopsticks down in disgust and glare at the man from her side of the table.

"It's Guild Law," said Inara, grinning as she played. "All Companions are required to undergo a physical examination once a year."

Jayne made a throaty sound and spat on his whetstone as he imagined spitting in Simon's face, causing Simon and Mal, both of whom were eating, too, to put down their chopsticks. "Could you not do that while we're… ever?" Simon said with revulsion. River was already out of her chair, however, enraged, and made her way towards the kitchen area.

Jayne looked Simon straight in the eye and spat on the whetstone once more, deliberately, imagining that he was spitting in Simon's face again, instead. That was the last straw, as far as River was concerned.

"So two days in a hospital? That's awful!" Wash exclaimed. "Don't you just hate Doctors?"

"Hey!" Simon was obviously a little hurt by this.

"I mean, present company excluded," Wash offered by way of apology. River knew what Jayne was going to say next, and her hand was already on the butcher knife, the biggest one she could find, and then she was on her way back to the table with it.

"Let's not be excludin' people," Jayne said. "That'd be rude."

Before that inhuman, murdering piece of _go-se_ could laugh at his own joke, River decided to show him what it was like to be on the receiving end of a little violence himself, and slashed him hard across the chest with the butcher's knife. He recoiled instantly, his teeth clenched together in a grimace. "Gah!" he exclaimed, completely shocked by her actions. "Son of a-"

Half the room was out of their seats and on their feet, rushing over to the pair. Jayne backhanded River, sending her sprawling to the floor with a split lip.

"What the hell?" Simon yelled as he got to his feet as well, and raced toward his sister.

"Oh my God!" said Kaylee, running.

"River, no!" Simon said.

"He's bleeding," Kaylee said.

"That's deep," Zoe assessed.

Simon, Inara, and Wash looked over River while the rest of the room, namely Zoe, Mal, and Kaylee were making sure Jayne was alright. It was obvious to them that Jayne had been badly, even viciously slashed, and that he was going to need stitches, which ironically enough, would be Simon's job.

"River," Simon said to his sister in disbelief; River, for her part, wanted to smile.

Jayne clutched at the cut on his chest and looked at the girl as though he had just been bitten in the face by his pet dog, his brow furrowed, a look of confusion on his face.

"He looks better in red," River said by way of explanation, blood trickling from the right corner of her mouth.

 **(Author's Note: This is a relatively simple (not to mention short) chapter, essentially recreating a single scene that opens Episode 9, "Ariel". I wanted to put a new and interesting spin on it, however, as there is never any adequate explanation given as to why River slashed Jayne. If you watch the actions and expressions of Jayne and River carefully, however, the clues are there. Either River was reacting to Jayne's remembrances of his past violent altercations, or he was imagining doing violence to Simon. When I started this chapter, I was more intent on focusing on the former, but as things progressed naturally with my writing, I began to lean more and more toward the latter. I'm pretty pleased with the result, and I hope that you are, too. I sincerely hope that the next time you watch "Ariel", you think of this story, and look for the clues.)**

 **(Next Time: Applied The Cortical Electrodes - While in the hospital on Ariel, Jayne wrestles with his ethics as he prepared to turn in Simon and River to the Feds.)**


	44. Applied The Cortical Electrodes

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 44: Applied The Cortical Electrodes  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I don't know! If I'd wanted schooling, I'd have gone to school!"  
-Jayne Cobb – Episode 9, "Ariel"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 9, "Ariel".)**

" _Nihao,_ " said the Fed on the viewscreen.

"I'm in," said Jayne.

"Do you have the fugitives?" the Fed asked.

"You got my reward?" asked Jayne.

"Yes," said the Fed. "Just like we talked about."

"Then I got your fugitives," Jayne responded.

"Good," the Fed replied. "We'll see you shortly. Congratulations: you're about to become a very rich man."

Jayne smiled and rang off, then walked the short distance down the corridor to the morgue at St. Lucy's Hospital in Ariel City, the capital of Ariel, on the edge of the Core. Within an hour, a quarter-million credit bounty would be his for turning over Simon and River Tam to the Alliance.

As he entered the morgue, Jayne felt a chill in the air; the room was cold. He supposed given the nature of what was stored and what was done in this room, it would need to be. He looked at Simon and River, both laying on examination tables; scattered around the room were several corpses of men and women, each covered in a sheet of sheer blue fabric.

Jayne didn't like to see corpses, at least not ones he didn't kill himself. He had the sudden urge to go jogging or lift weights. More importantly, he needed to get rolled. The money would make that so much easier. He did the math in his head. The bounty was 625,000 in platinum. Over twenty times his split from the job on Higgins' Moon four years before. Over ten times what that job would have been worth once he'd shoved Stitch out the rear hatch. He'd been rich beyond his wildest dreams for fifteen minutes once, until he pushed those strong boxes out the hatch after Stitch. Now he was going to be a lot richer.

He carried a Doctor's coat under his arm and passed the bodies, moving to examine a series of hexagons on one of the walls; one of the hatches was open, and he peered inside. Empty. This must be where they kept the bodies in cold storage when they weren't working on them.

Behind him, unseen and unheard, River rose to a sitting position. "Copper for a kiss," she said to him.

Jayne jumped and spun around. "Jesus!" he exclaimed. "What did you say?"

Suddenly, Simon's "body" lurched and heaved on the table, and the young man began to cough and struggle for breath, which also made Jayne jump. He moved towards the Doctor. "What the hell's the matter with you?"

"Nothing," Simon said in a pained voice as he coughed and gasped. "Just the aftereffects of the drugs. I'll be… fine. Just give me a second."

"Well, your sister seems okay," Jayne responded, then rolled his eyes as he could hear River vomiting onto the floor behind him.

With River gagging and Simon rolled onto his stomach and coughing, Jayne tossed the Doctor's coat to him, and it slid under the young man's face. On reflection, Jayne thought this was a stupid thing to do, especially if the Doctor suddenly puked all over it, but what was done was done. "You gotta get dressed. We gotta move."

Once Simon was dressed properly, they exited the morgue, and were lucky enough to find an empty wheelchair in the corridor. Simon had River sit in it and he began to push his sister as they made their way toward the imaging suite.

After taking an elevator up to the correct floor, they exited and began moving through a ward full of patients, doctors, and nurses, all arrayed against one wall. "You're doing it backwards," River said suddenly. "Walking up the down-slide."

"Keep her quiet!" Jayne hissed in a gruff whisper.

"This is the recovery ward," Simon whispered to his sister. "This is where patients come to get better."

"They're going to die," River complained.

"No one is going to die," Simon said.

"He is," River said, pointing at one of the beds they were about to pass.

Simon grabbed her arm and forced it back down; Jayne knew it wouldn't do to call attention to themselves. Once somebody started asking the wrong questions, it was all over for everyone.

"No he's not," Simon said quickly. "That man standing next to him is his Doctor. He's going to help him."

"He's not going to help him right," River said.

"River, the Doctors here are the best in the system," Simon said as they continued to walk through the ward, and past the man River had pointed at. Simon turned to look at the patient, whose bio-monitors were beginning to sound irregularly and with faster and faster beeping noises.

"This is one of the top hospitals in the Core or anywhere else," he said, turning to face forward again.

"Where you should be," River said, then suddenly grabbed the handles on both wheels, stopping the chair and turning around. "You have to help him."

Jayne grabbed River, trying to force her to face forward again. "River, we don't have time-" Simon started.

"He's killing him!" River exclaimed.

"Code blue!" called a voice behind them, as alarm tones started sounding from a bio-monitor. Simon turned to look. It was the bed River had been pointing at. The man was crashing.

"We have a code here," said a nurse at his bedside.

"Stay here," Simon said; Jayne's face contorted, as though he didn't know whether to scream at Simon or knock him down, and realized that doing either was probably a Very Bad Move.

"Stay here," Simon said, starting to walk away backwards.

"Don't-" Jayne began, his face a mask of rage.

"Don't move," Simon ordered, and turned as he headed for the bed. Jayne had his arms wrapped around River's neck, as though he was embracing her from behind, but it was really to keep her from getting out of the chair and going to her brother.

Simon began to run as he approached the patient's bed. He grabbed a stethoscope out of the attending physician's hands. "What do we have?" he asked.

"Forty-two year old double bypass post-op. Prognosis was positive," the Doctor said.

"BP's sixty over twenty, pulse is thready" the nurse said.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked.

"He's crashing," the nurse said.

"Get the cart," Simon said, and just like that, the patient flatlined.

"We have flatline," the nurse said.

The Doctor threw up his hands. "We've gotta crack him."

Simon gave the man an incredulous expression. "We're not cracking a post-op."

"He's non-responsive," said the nurse. "Should I call the Code Team?"

"Get me the infusers and .4 of Atropine," Simon said to the nurse, then turned to the Doctor. "What did you give him?" he said without a pause.

"Just 20 of Apresaline push," said the Doctor.

Simon's face looked horrified. He turned, and took a pair of rods with flat metal discs on the ends of them from the nurse, who then handed him a syringe, which he put between his teeth.

Simon pressed a disc over the heart of the man, whose bare chest had a large bandage over it, and pressed the other near the top of his abdomen on the right side. "Clear," he said around the syringe in his mouth, and suddenly the man convulsed on the table. The bio-monitor made a couple of beeps, then went back to a steady tone again.

"Clear," Simon said again.

"Clear," repeated the nurse.

Suddenly, the man convulsed again, and the machine began to beep once more. "He's going tachy!" the Doctor exclaimed.

"Yeah, but his heart's beating," Simon said, handing the rod-paddles back to the nurse.

Simon took the syringe out of his mouth and popped the cap off, letting it fall to the floor. He injected the medicine into the man's IV line, and the beeping began to slow.

"He's okay," the Doctor said.

River smiled, and looked up at Jayne, who was watching the entire scene with a stunned expression on his face. Sure, he'd watched the Doctor patch people up, himself included, back on the ship, but he'd never seen anything like this. Jayne was used to taking people's lives; he didn't know the first thing about saving one.

Suddenly, he felt ashamed at what he was planning. The Doc had just saved someone, someone whose life wasn't even his own business, but he had dived in and made a difference all the same.

Simon spent the next minute or two chewing out the Fed Doctor for nearly getting the poor man killed, and handed him back his stethoscope. Then Simon marched back to Jayne and his sister. Jayne could see the nurse laughing silently to herself over the whole affair. Must be a rare sight to watch a snooty Doctor be handed his head like that.

 **O-O-O**

Less than five minutes later, Simon was reclining his sister into a chair in the imaging suite, and as he started working the controls, positioned a dozen feet away, a holographic representation of her body, complete with its innards, appeared over the girl. As Jayne watched, the layers of her body were stripped away, until only the brain remained. Simon approached the hologram of the brain and began to manipulate it with his hands. "They opened up her skull," Simon said. "That's- that's a scalpel scar. They opened up her skull and they cut into her brain."

Jayne's brow furrowed. "Why?"

"Well, the only reason to make an incision in someone's brain is to lobotomize them, to go in and remove damaged tissue… why anyone would cut into a healthy brain is… they did it over and over again."

Jayne recoiled. Simon wasn't kidding when he said his sister had tried to get the word out that they were hurting the "students" at the Academy. They tortured the poor girl. And here he was, about to put her back into their waiting hands. First, the Doc saved someone for no damn reason, and now River had to go back to a place where they cut up her brain. He began to get queasy.

"They did it over, and over," Simon said.

He paused for a long moment, examining the brain floating over River's head. "They stripped her amygdala," he said at last.

"Her what?" Jayne asked.

"You know how… You know how you get scared, or worried, or nervous, but you don't want to be scared or worried or nervous, so you push it to the back of your mind, you try not to think about it? The amygdala is what lets you do that; it's like a filter in your brain that keeps your feelings in check."

Simon paused. "She feels everything," he said at last. "She can't not."

Jayne closed his eyes for a moment. She couldn't control her emotions. That probably meant that she had no way of stopping herself from slashing him with the butcher's knife the other day. It wasn't her fault. None of it was her fault… It was the _gorram_ Alliance, and he was about to turn them over to the Alliance for money.

And then there was the money…

Jayne thought of the money, all that glorious money, and suddenly his nausea went away. He no longer felt ashamed. With all that money, he could get Mattie some real help, with a real, Core Doctor, and get him cured for good. He could buy his ma a nice house. Could finally get a ship of his own like he always wanted, and be like Mal for a change, give some orders instead of having to take them all the time. And then, with Simon gone, he might actually have a shot with Kaylee…

"Well that's fascinating," Jayne said flatly, without sympathy. "Let's get movin'."

"We still have twenty minutes," Simon argued.

"Wrong," Jayne said. "Plan changed while you were out. We're meetin' out the back way in five."

"Well, I could use a couple more minutes. I'm sure if we get in touch with Captain Reynolds-"

"Captain gave his orders. We play it by the book." Ah, to hell with both of them. They could string Simon up by his short hairs, and play dice with that little _bao zi's_ eyeballs for all he cared, stabby little bitch. He hoped they'd cut her open and let her guts spill out onto the floor, like she'd tried to do with him.

Suddenly, as if River was reading his mind, she began to scream as she lay, reclined, in the chair. Jayne put a hand over her mouth to quiet her while Simon shut down the equipment and retrieved the memory card he'd brought with him, which he stuck in his pocket.

Simon rushed over to River, and Jayne removed his hand as the Doctor placed a hand on either side of her face. "River, it's okay. Shhh-hhh-hhh."

Jayne was across the room, pushing the wheelchair towards them. "Get her in the chair and let's go!"

 **O-O-O**

Simon and Jayne continued bickering over the sudden change of plans as they approached the rear exit stairway. Jayne reveled in the fact that they were probably going to keep cutting her open and experimenting on her.

River almost started to cry as they approached the exit. Jayne stepped forward and opened both glass doors wide so the chair could easily pass through. "No, no, I can't go back. I don't wanna go back," she moaned.

"Shh-shh-shh," Simon shushed. "It's okay, we're just going back to the ship. We're almost home." He continued shushing her as he wheeled her through the door and into the stairwell.

And suddenly, from the stairs on both sides of the atrium, people in uniforms began to descend. "Federal Marshalls! Don't move! River and Simon Tam, by the authority of the Union of Allied Planets, you are hereby bound by law!"

The sounds of weapons cocking echoed through the chamber, and several officers rushed forward to cuff them.

Jayne stifled a laugh. He wanted to look at the Doctor, to see the look on that smug, pompous _wangbadan's_ face, but he didn't want to give away his hand in the capture, so he turned away and smirked instead.

This was his finest moment, and he was going to enjoy every moment of it.

 **(Author's Note: Similar to the previous chapter, "He Looks Better In Red", this chapter is largely a recreation of several scenes from Episode 9, "Ariel", with some commentary and inner monologue thrown in. I hope that Jayne's thoughts were enough to keep you entertained, however. I don't intend to do many chapters like this, but unless people write in and ask me to stop doing them, there may be a handful more. Let me know what you think; I'm always interested in my readers' opinions.)**

 **(Next Time: Two By Two, Hands Of Blue - The Hands of Blue operatives, One and Two, report the escape of Simon and River Tam from St. Lucy's Hospital on Ariel to their superior.)**


	45. Two By Two, Hands Of Blue

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 45: Two By Two, Hands Of Blue  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **How's about you shut that crazy mouth? Is that a fun game?"  
-Jayne Cobb – Episode 2, "The Train Job"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 9, "Ariel", and Episode 10, "War Stories".)**

Two looked over the railing at the open door below, its handle broken; stoically, he turned to One. "He's not going to like this," he said. One nodded, but did not speak.

Simon and River Tam had eluded them again.

The pair made their way back through the security substation, past the nine bodies they had created in their zeal to clean up the mess left by the presence of the Tams, and then exited St. Lucy's Hospital in Ariel City. Against the backdrop of the rising morning sun, they got aboard their shuttle, an armored black affair, and headed into orbit, entering the central docking bay of the I.A.V. Agamemnon, and took an elevator to the Bridge.

"Welcome, sirs," Captain Ellis said as they stepped into the command center.

"We will need use of your Ready Room," said One.

"Of course, sirs. It is at your disposal, as always," the Captain said, bowing her head slightly.

One and Two entered the functional yet opulent room, and sat down at a table facing a large vid screen. Using a blue-gloved hand, One pressed a button on a control panel and spoke. "Open a channel to Codex-9-4793 on Londinium," he said.

"Yes, sir," said the voice of the comm officer. "Connecting your call now."

After a few seconds, a black silhouette appeared on the screen. "Report," said a voice with a distorted, modulated tone. A man's voice with a Titan accent, the only hint the pair had to his identity.

"We do not have the Tams in custody," said One.

"What happened?" said the Man.

"According to reports from the Federal Marshall we spoke to, he had the Tams in custody, along with an informant that turned the siblings in," said One. "When we arrived, the trio had escaped their captors and fled the building."

"Where did the breakdown in custody occur?" asked the Man.

Two folded his hands, also clad in blue rubber, and spoke for the first time. "As we used the Diapedizer on all the surviving arresting officers, we can only speculate."

"'Surviving' officers?" the Man asked.

"Yes," said One. "One of the officers apparently had his neck broken. The Diapedizers were used on the remaining eight men, as per standard operating procedure to neutralize any who spoke to River Tam, excepting her brother. As I said, we can only speculate, but Simon Tam is not a fighter, and River Tam is not activated. As such, neither of them had the ability to kill a fully grown, trained Marshall with their bare hands. Our speculation is that the informant, who was being taken with the Tams into a holding area, killed one guard, and incapacitated the other."

"Do you have any recommendations based on these findings?" the Man sounded slightly irritated.

"We do," said Two. "We believe the breakdown in the chain of custody occurred not just because they were not kept under heavy guard at all times, but because the Parliament has allowed Federal officers to collect the bounty. As a result, the ranking officer, Agent McGuiness, attempted to collect the bounty himself, rather than allowing the informant to collect it. This informant, once betrayed, obviously turned on his captors and aided the Tams in their escape from St. Lucy's Hospital."

"Our recommendation," said One, "is to withdraw the offer of bounty to any arresting officer, or to offer an additional bounty of equal value to offset the possibility of the same thing happening in the future. Of course, it's a given that all involved will be Diapedized, so there is no budgetary earmark required in order to take this step."

"And do you think this will work?" queried the Man.

"Unfortunately, no," said One.

"While we believe it should be done for the sake of due diligence," said Two, continuing One's thought, "We have unfortunately squandered what is likely the best opportunity we will ever have to get the Tam's back by betrayal by an ostensible ally, or at least by this particular informant. Now that he knows that he will be arrested if he attempts to collect the bounty on the Tams, he will certainly never make the mistake of doing so again."

"As things stand now," said One, "our best hope is that one of the bounty hunters that has been in contact with us about the bounty associated with the Tams will bring them both in, or at least River. We've made it clear to them that Simon is optional, but River is not, and that Simon's bounty cannot be collected without the return of River, alive and unharmed."

"And what can we know about the informant? Is it possible to trace the Tams using his identity?" the Man asked.

"Unfortunately, the answer to that question is no as well," said Two. "We ran a check on the ident card the informant was using to contact the Marshalls, and it belonged to one Jasper Fitzpatrick, now deceased. He was apparently killed by Reavers on a ship full of settlers bound for Bernadette approximately seven months ago. That ship was searched by the crew of the I.A.V. Drake, and destroyed in interplanetary space as a hazard to the region."

"Our best guess is that the ident card was recovered during the search and found its way onto the black market," said One.

"Yes," said Two. "Federal officers are not above making a little extra coin selling found items on the black or grey markets. That's our best guess, based on the information we have at present, at any rate."

"I see," said the Man. "Based on this report, I think we'll go with your recommendation to offer an additional bounty for the arresting officer; that seems like the most logical avenue to explore, and as you say, there will be no budgetary outlay. In the meantime, I am assigning Three and Four, as well as Five and Six to the hunt; once they receive the necessary training on the subject they need from Doctor Matthias at the Academy, you will meet with them personally to brief them, and allow them to look over all materials collected thusfar in your search. I am therefore ordering you to Osiris at once."

"Yes, sir," said One.

"At once, sir," said Two.

"Is there anything else?" asked the Man.

"Not at this time," said One.

"Very well," said the Man. "Dismissed."

The viewscreen shifted to black for a moment, before displaying a Telofonix logo.

One and Two got up and re-entered the Bridge.

"By the order of the authority of the Allied Parliament," said One, "you are to ferry us to Osiris at maximum velocity, and inform us upon reaching a standard orbit."

"Yes, sirs," said Captain Ellis. "At once. Helm, set a course and engage at maximum velocity."

"Aye, Captain," said the helm officer, working his controls.

"If you need us, we will be in our quarters," said One. Both he and Two exited the Bridge, thankful that their heads were still attached to their shoulders.

 **O-O-O**

Deep in a sub-basement nestled in the heart of the Parliamentary Governmental Complex on Londinium, the Man turned away from his vid screen, clasped his dark-skinned hands together, and stared at the sword leaning against his desk. "Failing that," he said to the sword, "I may have some work for you, my beauty."

 **(Author's Note: The Hands of Blue have always fascinated me. River is positively terrified of them, and as the Feds at St. Lucy's found out, there's a good reason for this. Like with encountering a doppelganger, meeting with the Hands of Blue is likely to end in death, regardless of whose side you're on. After the film, I wondered if the Operative came after the failure of the Hands of Blue, or if they were reporting to him. Perhaps, if there's time, there will be more of the Hands of Blue in Deleted Scenes, but as things stand now, with the exception of a nugget of an idea I have, this is the only time I have plans to portray them. Perhaps that seed will take root and we'll have the opportunity for some resolution. I don't know. I do not like the plots of the comics, finding their writing to be too simplistic and unworthy of the title of Firefly or Serenity that they bear, with the exception of "The Shepherd's Tale", which I plan to incorporate into the plot, but I have no intention of showing deleted scenes for "Those Left Behind", which tells of the fate of the Hands of Blue. If I show their fate at all, it will be a fate of my own choosing, and then, only if I can craft a better one than that of the comics. At this time, I have up to chapter 65 planned in advance, and that hasn't even gotten me to the era of the film yet, so this series could easily top 80 ficlets by the time I'm done. I hope you've enjoyed the ride thusfar, and stick with me until the end. Incidentally, I've had this crazy little idea to do a Deleted Scenes fanfiction anthology for every Star Trek series there currently is, starting with the Original Series. I'd want to have nearly one hundred ficlets written before I began publishing, however, as even a series based on the first 79 Original Series episodes could easily top 150-250 ficlets, and like this series, I would want to publish a ficlet every single day, to keep my fans happy and give them something to look forward to. What do you all think? PM me with your opinions.)**

 **(Next Time: Paging Doctor Waldorf - A Doctor attacked by Mal and Zoe on Ariel awakens and begins to deal with an alarming and escalating series of circumstances within the hospital.)**


	46. Paging Doctor Waldorf

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 46: Paging Doctor Waldorf  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **You see this badge? It says 'Doctor'. I say walk, you walk."  
-Doctor Samuel Waldorf, Episode 9, "Ariel"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 9, "Ariel", and Episode 10, "War Stories".)**

"Paging Doctor Waldorf. Doctor Waldorf, please call 5-4898," a voice was speaking. A familiar woman's voice. It was distant and fuzzy.

There was a long silence in the darkness. Then, the voice broke the silence again.

"Paging Doctor Waldorf. Doctor Waldorf, please call 5-4898."

The man on the floor stirred slightly. He groaned as he rolled over, then opened his eyes.

Then there was the voice again, clearer this time. "Paging Doctor Waldorf. Doctor Waldorf, please call 5-4898, stat."

The man struggled to his feet, moaning as he got up. His back hurt. His upper back. He looked around for a phone, and realized he was in the med vault. He scanned the shelves and understood that he had not only been attacked, but he had been right to suspect the EMTs he had accosted in the hallway. The med vault had been pretty expertly and nearly completely cleaned out. Those stretchers – the morgue coffins, which had almost certainly been empty – for how else would they have been able to get him here unseen? – would have hidden a multitude of medicinal sins.

He picked up the phone and dialed the number being used to page him.

"Pathology, Unit 2," said the woman's voice at the other end of the line.

"This is Doctor Waldorf," said the man.

"Where have you been, Doctor? It's been over an hour since you went on break," the nurse sounded concerned.

"I'm in the med vault," Doctor Samuel Waldorf said. "I was attacked by two thieves posing as EMTs. They had morgue stretchers with them, and after knocking me out with a pair of cardiac infusers, they dumped me here and cleaned out the vault. Contact security and tell them to lock down the hospital. Then get someone from Pharmacy down here to assess the loss. Suspects are a dark-skinned woman by the name of 'Jennifer Bellings' and a Caucasian male named 'Raymond Parks' with dark brown hair. Both are probably aliases. They're in EMT uniforms, or at least they were when I last saw them."

"Yes, Doctor. Please wait there for security. Doctor Dahl has taken over your duties in your absence."

"Thank you," said the Doctor, and rang off.

While he waited, the Doctor did a quick assessment of what was missing. They had naturally taken all the opiates and opioids, including all the methadone, plus all the serinoids and anything related to immunization boosting or anxiety medication. Anti-inflammitories, sedation meds, and anti-hypertensives were all gone as well, as were a number of other classes of drugs. All the valuable medicines; either the thieves had knowledge of what would get them the most on the black market, or else someone with that knowledge had informed them of what would be the best to take.

Ten minutes later, a Chinese woman whose name tag read "L. Barber" arrived with a tablet computer, and nodded to the Doctor. "You're Doctor Waldorf?" she asked.

"The very same," he said. "Looks like they got all the good stuff."

Barber glanced at the shelves, then picked up the phone and dialed a number. "This is Ling," she said. "We need a full restocking; they took over seventy-five percent of what we had in stock, at least. I'm about to run inventory on what's left, but you should call the central compounding lab and have a full inventory sent to us so we don't come up short on anything we need in the interim."

Ling worked for another ten minutes, taking inventory of the little they had left, when the phone rang. She answered it.

"Med vault, Barber," she said, then handed the phone over to Waldorf. "It's for you," she said.

"Waldorf," he said simply into the phone.

"This is nurse Nicklas," said the voice, the same woman he had spoken to earlier. "I have been unable to reach anyone at the security substation. No one is picking up over there."

"Okay," said Waldorf. "I'm going to walk over there and report to them in person. I'll be back on duty as soon as I finish filing my report."

"Yes, Doctor. I'll inform the staff," Nicklas said.

Waldorf hung up the phone and began to walk the considerable distance to the security substation; St. Lucy's was quiet, as quiet as it ever got at end of third shift. On his way, he passed a pair of men, one of them bald like him, both wearing black suits with black ties, and, strangely enough, blue pathology gloves. He did a double take and looked back at them before he turned a corner and stepped up to the door to the security substation, walking inside.

" _Aiyaa! Biao zi de erzi!_ " the Doctor exclaimed at the sight of everyone in the station lying on the floor in pools of blood. "Help! I need help in here!" he shouted as loudly as he could, then rushed over to the nearest body. He checked for a pulse, but found none, and judging from the temperature his electronic thermometer read, he had been dead for some time. There was no sign of an entry or exit wound from a bullet or a knife, and no sign of a struggle. No one outside had apparently heard him, because no one had come to his aid from the hallway. He picked up a phone and called nurse Nicklas.

"Pathology, Unit 2."

"This is Doctor Waldorf in the Federal security substation. Everyone here is down, at least one is dead. I need two code teams and as many people from Pathology as you can spare. Have the hospital locked down under quarantine, on my authority; there may be a fast-acting pathogen at work here, and I need this section of St. Lucy's sealed and quarantined. Tell the Pathology staff coming to bring everything they need to do post mortems in the hallway. We need to get a handle on this as quickly as possible. Now, repeat that back to me."

Nurse Nicklas complied, until Waldorf was satisfied, then he left her to her considerable work, and began to assess the others. Ordinarily, this would be a triage situation, but as the Doctor quickly discovered, everyone in the room was dead. They had bled considerably from their eyes, ears, noses, and mouths, and most interesting of all, from beneath their fingernails. Waldorf took off one of the Fed's shoes and socks, and saw that his toes were smeared with blood as well. Waldorf's bowels clenched at the idea that he could have exposed himself to a potentially airborne pathogen that could even now be working very hard to kill him.

A few minutes later, the code teams rushed in with their carts, but he waved them off. "Sorry to waste your time, folks, but everyone here is dead; there's supposed to be a holding cell down the hall over there," he pointed at the other side of the room. "You can make yourself useful by checking to see if there's anyone alive or dead in the cell, or anyone alive or in need of aid guarding it."

The members of the teams nodded and pushed their carts through the door, fanning out to look for survivors.

A few minutes later, as the first people from Pathology began to show up, someone from one of the code teams poked his head back into the room. "We have two more dead down the corridor to the holding cell; if you give us stretchers, we'll bring them out. One is like the others, the other apparently has a broken neck, and some blood around his lips, but no pool of blood."

One of the pathologists radioed in for orderlies to bring in a pair of stretchers, and after doing a quick count on the floor, told his contact on the other end of the comm that they would need a total of nine of them.

A nurse and an orderly both entered the room, each pushing a stretcher, and followed the man from the code team down the hall.

Doctor Mbeke came up to Waldorf. "What do we have here?" he asked. "Besides the obvious, I mean."

"Bleeding from every visible orifice, as well as from the fingernails and toenails. Cause of death is not apparent," Waldorf said. "How's the quarantine coming?"

"Director Warren has been contacted and is shuttling in now. He's approved the lockdown and quarantine, and facilities is currently setting up plastic airlocks with disinfectant showers at either end of the hallway. I'm told breakfast and coffee will be brought to us within half an hour. I have four Doctors setting up for post mortems in the hallway, plus six nurses and two orderlies. You have any symptoms?"

"None at present," said Waldorf. "Onset was apparently sudden and simultaneous, with progression almost immediately to incapacitation or death, otherwise these people would have phoned for help. They've been dead for at least thirty to forty-five minutes, by my estimate. Temperatures were already down three to five degrees by the time I checked for pulses. No need for the code teams."

"Well, they're stuck in here with us now," Mbeke said. "Do you have any theories?"

"Over an hour ago, I was incapacitated by a pair dressed as EMTs using cardiac infusers; I came to in the med vault, which was pretty thoroughly cleaned out. It's possible they released an environmental agent or pathogen into the substation in order to prevent a security response in the event they were discovered."

"That's… troubling," said Mbeke as the code teams wheeled the two bodies of the Marshalls through the room and out into the main hallway. Then they returned with the orderlies and a passel of stretchers to retrieve the rest.

Mbeke gestured towards the door. "Time for us to get to work."

 **O-O-O**

Three hours later, after a workup was done on the first group, Mbeke called for Director Warren, who stood outside the east "airlock" when he arrived. Doctor Waldorf stepped to the inside wall of plastic, and spoke through the barrier to Warren.

"Good morning, sir," Waldorf said.

"I saw your report on the robbery," Warren said. "Good catch; I'm sorry they incapacitated you. We have Federal Marshalls on-site, and I am liaising with them. They want to talk to you, but I've told them that you're hands-off until all the post mortems are done. What have you turned up?"

"Death due to intra-cranial hemorrhage, as well as symptoms of diffuse mucosal bleeding, into the brain, the trachea, the lungs, the abdominal cavity, the urethrogenital tract, and in at least two cases so far, the pleura and the peritoneum, too. One case of petechiae in the face, scalp, and upper torso. No sign of lividity in any of the organs, no signs of septic shock or any infection at all, in fact."

" _Putan!_ " said Warren. "What a _gorram_ mess. No clue as to the cause?"

"Nothing definite as of yet, sir. My guess is that if this was a pathogen, it either has a much longer incubation period than we suspected, or else it has denatured. Neither I nor any of the others are showing any symptoms at present. I'm recommending a 72-hour observation period in quarantine. We're going to need a couple dozen cots."

"You'll have them. I'm dipping into the petty cash to have food delivered from Marazzo's for lunch; hope you like Italian. We'll have a copy of the menus emailed to each of you, you each reply with your order and we'll get it to you ASAP."

"Thank you, sir. That's very thoughtful of you," Waldorf said.

Mbeke approached Waldorf. "We do have one interesting piece of information, Director, although we're not sure what it means at this point."

"What's that?" asked Warren.

"Code team took a Capture of the positions of the bodies before we moved them, and we tagged them in order from closest to the door to the furthest away. So far we've found, and I think the remaining post mortems will bear this out, that the closer they were to the door, the worse the bleeding was. The bleeding of the one we found in the hallway to the holding cell, the one whose neck wasn't broken, was the worst of all. There were actually petechiae on the face and torso, but he's the only one with this phenomenon."

"Doctor Waldorf mentioned the petechiae. Does any of that suggest an environmental cause?" Warren asked.

"It does sound less like a pathogen, given that," said Waldorf. "It also may tend to suggest that a weapon of unknown design might have been used."

"A weapon?" Warren asked, his brow furrowed.

"We're just spitballing here," Mbeke said. "But it's possible some heretofore unknown weapon was used to kill these men."

"Okay," Warren replied. "I'll pass all of this along to the Feds; they're very motivated to find out who or what killed their comrades. In the meantime, we'll get you those menus, and we'll have lunch sent in pretty quickly for you. We'll also get you cots, some folding tables, chairs, and a CortexVision or two to keep you entertained once the work stops. So tell everyone to settle in, and I'll be back to let you know what Toxicology says after the results are in. Good work, you two, and please pass my commendations on to the others."

"Thank you, sir, we will," Mbeke said.

"Yes, sir. Thank you," replied Waldorf.

Waldorf sighed as he turned around and headed back for his next post mortem. It was going to be a _long_ week, assuming any of them lived long enough to see the end of it.

 **(Author's Note: The aftermath of the Hands of Blue killing the Feds at St. Lucy's has always been of particular interest to me. I couldn't have done this alone, however. I have to give credit where credit is due, and that credit goes to "Selective SciFi Junkie", who is my Beta for medical situations and terminology, and freely offers her services as a medical professional to any who would like to consult her on medical scenarios and terminology for their works. To my credit (I am apparently not above blowing my own horn), she found that with the exception of a couple of minor nitpicks, my portrayal of the situation, and virtually all of my medical terminology was right on the money; I will admit, however, that she gave me a blow-by-blow of what a Doctor would do upon coming upon nine dead bodies in a hospital, complete with a likely breakdown of what their damage would be, based on the symptoms shown in Episode 9, "Ariel". Incidentally, I recently helped her as Beta for her post-Serenity fic (which is nearly 25,000 words long), called "Strange Bedfellows", which I also came up with the title for. If you're looking for a realistic, medical-jargon-heavy fic about the aftermath of the BDM "Serenity", then this is the fic for you. I spent three weeks picking it apart, going it over meticulously, and improving it at my own pace in between writing these ficlets, and I'm grateful that SSJ was in no rush to publish; now, however, publishing she is, with at least four chapters out so far. I suggest you check it out. Also, today brings with it a grand milestone, as Firefly: Deleted Scenes broke 100,000 words today, or over 300 pages! This is a great day for me, and I celebrate it by publishing what is probably my favorite ficlet so far. Please enjoy it; I hope you like it as much as I liked writing it!)**

 **(Next Time: No Luck With The Councilor - With Mal and Wash being held by Niska aboard his Skyplex over Ezra, Inara attempts to get a friend to intervene on _Serenity's_ behalf.)**


	47. No Luck With The Councilor

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 47: No Luck With The Councilor  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **If I choose a woman, she tends to be extraordinary in some way."  
-Inara Serra - Episode 10, "War Stories"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 10, "War Stories".)**

Inara sat at the controls of Shuttle 1, dressed in an incredibly elaborate outfit with a bare midriff and a lace veil. She reached for the comm. "Kaylee, this is Inara. I am ready to launch at your signal."

"Inara, you're ready to go at your discretion. I have a green panel," Kaylee's voice crackled over the communication line.

"Thank you, _meimei_. Launching now." She pressed a button, releasing the docking clamps, and the craft began to rise over the desert. She flew east, over rocky outcrops and stretches of sand, eventually passing over the city of New Babylon on her way to Cyrus, the capital of Ezra, a border world.

After an hour of flying, she touched down in a shuttle parking lot outside of the planetary seat of government, where the Ezra Planetary Council was located. She exited her vehicle, locking it behind her, and made her way inside the building. At the security checkpoint, the handed over her laser pistol and was given a check tag to retrieve it when she left. "I'm looking for the office of Councilor Janelle Swenson," she said to the security guard.

"Up on level seven," he said to her politely, "down the hall to the left. Room 709."

"Thank you," she said with a sweet smile, taking back her purse and heading for a bank of elevators.

A few minutes later, she entered the office, which displayed flags of Ezra and the Alliance, and stepped up to the reception desk. "I'm Inara Serra, a friend of Councilor Swenson. I need to see her immediately; it's very important."

The receptionist was apologetic, "The Council is in session until lunch; she should be returning in approximately a half an hour. You're welcome to wait for her. I assume you don't have an appointment."

"I don't," Inara said. "But I'm sure she'll see me. I'll wait."

The receptionist gestured to several easy chairs at the other side of the office. "Please, make yourself comfortable. Can I get you some coffee, or tea perhaps?"

"Tea would be lovely," Inara said. "Sugar and lemon if it's black tea, plain if it's green."

"It's green tea, but I can get you black tea from down the hall if you'd prefer it," the receptionist said.

"No need to put yourself out on my behalf," Inara said. "Green tea would be lovely."

Twenty minutes later, while drinking her second cup of tea, the Councilor entered the office, her blonde hair immaculate and she was wearing a smart pants-suit. "Inara?" she asked as she recognized the woman from their earlier tryst aboard the shuttle. "What are you doing here? Is there a problem?"

Inara stood. "I'm afraid there is; I need to speak to you in private."

"Please join me in my office, then," the Councilor said. "Rebecca, please hold all my calls until further notice."

Inara followed Janelle into her office, and the Councilor closed the door behind them. "I didn't leave an earring in your shuttle or something, did I?"

"No, no," Inara said. "Nothing like that. I'm afraid I'm here on official business."

The Councilor sat down at her desk, and Inara followed suit, sitting in a brown leather easy chair, one of a matched pair at the other side of the desk. The walls were solid mahogany, and like the reception room, there were flags of Ezra and the Alliance behind Janelle's desk, one on each side. "Talk to me."

"Do you know of a man named Adelai Niska?" Inara asked.

"I'm very well aware of him. Half of Ezra's government is in his pocket," she said. "It's rumored he runs a crime syndicate that spans thirty worlds or more."

"He's kidnapped my Captain and our pilot. He probably plans to torture them both to death," Inara said seriously.

"Let me see what I can do," the Councilor said. "I'll do anything in my power to get them back." She turned around and activated her Cortex terminal, placing a call directly to Niska's Skyplex.

The face of a dark-skinned man appeared on the screen after a few seconds. " _Nihao,_ " he said.

"Viktor, this is Councilor Swenson; you may remember me. I need to speak to Niska."

"Mr. Niska is indisposed at the moment," Viktor said, "but if you're willing to hold, I would be happy to pass along a message for you."

"I understand Niska is holding—" she began, then looked over her shoulder at Inara.

"Captain Malcolm Reynolds and Hoban Washburne," Inara said.

"–Captain Malcolm Reynolds and Hoban Washburne. I would appreciate their release at once."

Viktor scoffed. "Please hold, Councilor. I will pass along the message for you in a moment." The call went to a Telofonix hold screen for a few minutes, then Viktor's face reappeared. "I'm sorry to report that Mr. Niska says that he will not release his guests, but he thanks you for your interest in their welfare." Viktor hung up the call without waiting for a reply.

"Thank you for trying," Inara said.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not done yet," Janelle said. She dialed another number.

"This is SWAT Unit 1," said a man on the screen once the call had been picked up. "This is Lieutenant Johansen."

"Lieutenant, this is Councilor Janelle Swenson. I need you to prepare an assault to retrieve two kidnap and torture victims on Adelai Niska's Skyplex at once."

The Lieutenant's face soured. "I am not prepared to assault the Skyplex, Councilor. Suicide isn't in my job description."

"Surely you must have at least twice the men that Niska does," she said.

"And then he'll have my throat cut in my sleep," the Lieutenant responded. "I'm not signing up for that, and neither are my men." He hung up as well.

Sighing heavily, the Councilor dialed another number. "As you can see, between corruption and fear, it's hard to find people to take on Niska."

"Yes," Inara said. "I can see that."

An older, sage face appeared on the screen. "This is Chief of Internal Security, Wilson Rawlings. What can I do for you, Councilor?"

"Chief, I have tried to engage a SWAT team to perform a strike operation to to the Skyplex to retrieve a pair of men Niska's kidnapped. I had no luck in getting the team to do their jobs. I was hoping you might be able to get a team, any team, to storm the Skyplex and get back the people of interest that he's taken."

There was a long pause before the Chief spoke. "As you may know, Councilor, Adelai Niska is a personal friend of mine; I'm afraid that it's not in my interest, or in the interest of any of my men to take him on. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

The Councilor grew angry. "Yes, I'd like for you to do your job."

The Chief's ire rose as well. "Then get a court order, but I'm sure you won't be able to find a judge on this planet willing to issue a warrant. Enjoy your day, Councilor." He then hung up the call as well.

Janelle turned around in her chair and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "That's the worst thing about the corruption on this planet. People like Niska work with impunity, and there's literally nothing I can do to stop them. I'm sorry, Inara."

"Would you mind if I contacted my ship?" she asked.

"Of course," the Councilor said.

Inara pulled a comm unit out of her purse and activated it. " _Serenity,_ this is Inara. Are you there?"

"Inara, this is Kaylee," the woman's voice came over the comm. "Have you had any luck?"

"I'm afraid not," Inara said. "No one is willing to take Niska on. Have you had any luck on your end?"

"Zoe is back," Kaylee said. "She was able to buy Wash's freedom, but Niska wouldn't let the Cap go. He cut off his _gorram_ ear!"

" _Wo de ma,_ " Inara growled.

"We're keeping it on ice; Doctor says he can reattach it with the right equipment, assuming we can get Mal back," Kaylee said. "But he doesn't have the equipment he needs."

"Okay," Inara said. I'll see if there's anything else I can get done over here. You keep me informed, yes?"

"Sure," Kaylee said. "Out."

Janelle's face brightened. "On a lighter note, if you do manage to get your Captain back, I can pull some strings and get your Doctor the equipment he needs to reattach that ear."

"I'll let my crew know," Inara said. "I'm sorry to waste your time, Janelle, but I'll be sure to let you know if we need that medical equipment; we're a resourceful crew. If there's a way to get Mal back, they'll find it."

The Councilor's intercom beeped, and Janelle pressed a button to answer it. "Councilor, Chief of the Council Jefferson is on line four," the receptionist said. "I'm sorry to bother you."

"That's fine," the Councilor said. "Patch him through."

Janelle turned around as the face of an older, angry looking man appeared on the screen. "Janelle, you will cease to try and raise a force against Adelai Niska at once."

"I've already stopped trying," she said ruefully.

"Good," the man said. "I'd hate to have to endorse a replacement after he chops you into tiny pieces."

"Of course, sir," she said.

"He'll probably get wind of your attempt within the hour. I suggest you have your speech writer or even your chief of communications prepare a formal apology for the attempt."

"Yes, sir. I'll take your advice under advisement," Janelle said. "Is there anything else?"

"Just that I hope you will think twice before doing anything so stupid again," he said angrily.

"Yes, sir. Thank you. I'll see you when we reconvene," Janelle said, and Jefferson rang off.

Janelle turned around again. "Sometimes, I think this moon, even this entire Alliance needs a revolution," she said. "This is a load of _go-se_ , when I can't find anyone but cowards an obstructionists when it comes to standing up to one man.

"It's an unfair universe," Inara said, and gave a soft smile.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more," Janelle said. "If a way appears, I will certainly take it."

"I know you will," Inara said, rising. Janelle rose as well, and stepped around her desk. The two women embraced, Inara lifted her veil and kissed the Councilor sweetly. "I'll let you know about the medical equipment. In the meantime, please be safe."

"I know how to protect myself," Janelle said. "I've been a Councilor for over ten years, I know how to navigate the choppy waters."

"Then I'm sure you'll get through this," Inara said, giving Janelle another squeeze. "Stay in touch," she said, and turned to leave.

"Oh, and Inara," Janelle stopped the Companion.

"Yes?" Inara asked.

"I had a lovely time with you today," Janelle said. "It really helped, being able to feel like a woman, instead of just a politician."

"As I said," replied Inara, "no show. I honestly felt that it was of great benefit for me as well. I truly enjoyed our time together, and hope that you will engage my services again the next time I pass by this way."

"I'm sure I will," Janelle said with a smile, and Inara left the room and headed back to her shuttle.

 **(Author's Note: There was much implied in Kaylee's line in Episode 10, "War Stories", when she said, "I just got a wave from Inara. No luck with the Councilor." I'm glad that I was finally able to explore that part of the Firefly 'Verse. This is a laid back and low-key kind of ficlet, but it's stories like this that throw the more intense ones into sharp relief. They are just as enjoyable to write as the action sequences, if not more so. And speaking of action sequences, in the next ficlet, "Blooded", Wash gets his first taste of bloodshed and warfare, as he works with Jayne and his wife Zoe to get Mal back from Niska. I hope you enjoy it.)**

 **(Next Time: Blooded - Wash learns the harsh realities of taking lives, and the horrors of armed combat as he and the crew of _Serenity_ storm Niska's Skyplex.)**


	48. Blooded

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 48: Blooded  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **You really think you can mount a two-man frontal assault on Niska's Skyplex and live?"  
-Jayne Cobb - Episode 10, "War Stories"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 10, "War Stories".)**

 **[Trigger Warning: The following contains fairly graphic descriptions of violence and gunplay. You have been warned.]**

Zoe pulled out a pair of smoke canisters and tossed them toward the airlock ramp, quickly filling the cargo bay with smoke. "Floodlamps!" she cried, and bright lights were turned on, lighting up the smoke. "Drop the ramp!"

Kaylee hit a button she more felt than saw, thanks to the smoke, and the ramp began to lower. When it was fully down, the smoke began to spill outward into the Skyplex's bay. She pressed another button on a device in her hand.

"Airlock popped!" cried Kaylee, looking down at the device she was carrying in one hand. In this other was a large, silver pistol. Beyond the ramp, they could hear the blast doors opening, and the smoke began to thin.

Good job, so far. "Book!" whispered Zoe hoarsely

The engine of the Mule began to roar, and Wash could see its dim shape passing through the smoke as it rolled out of the cargo bay and down the ramp. Now he could hear gunfire, and then an explosion and screaming as the shots fired at the Mule ignited the propane tank Book had attached to the front of the vehicle. Chances were, that would be the last trip the Mule would ever take.

Jayne and Zoe ran forward, with Wash not far behind, carrying his shotgun and a variety of other weapons, including a long-barreled silver revolver at his hip. Jayne, carrying a semiautomatic pistol and Vera, his beloved assault rifle, took out the remaining guard inside the control booth and took cover behind the frame of the entryway to the hallway into the main Skyplex.

Zoe took up a position on the other side of the rim of the entryway, and shot a man in the chest with her shotgun. He was already on his knees, and was struggling to get back to his feet after the blast from the propane tank, but he went down with a cry as Zoe sent him into the next world.

Wash rushed to a position behind her as she pulled the pin on an incendiary grenade with her teeth and threw it around the entryway and into the corridor.

"Move, move!" someone called from the other side. "Take cover!" The grenade exploded, and they could hear the screams of several men.

One man, still on fire, rounded the corner, walked right into the edge of the frame of the entryway, and fell over onto his back.

"Second Team!" cried Zoe, and Book, Simon, and Kaylee ran up to the trio at the opening. "Hold this position! We lose this ground, we lose it all! You're going to _hold this ground_ , understand me?"

Book ducked around and shot a man square in the chest; the man went down, face first, into the bumper of the Mule, bounced off, and lay motionless on the ground. So much for all his talk about the Bible and kneecaps. He was shooting to kill. So much the better for all of them. Niska's men needed to be exterminated, like a nest of termites eating away at the moral fabric of Ezra.

"Understood," said Book, glaring down angrily at the corpse he had just made.

"Okay, then," Zoe said softly, having discovered a newfound respect for the Shepherd.

Jayne ducked around and into the hallway, shooting at a pair of men who were running down it carrying shotguns and assault rifles. One went down, curling into a ball as he lay dying, and the other was winged, but still mobile and unharmed enough to beat a hasty retreat.

Jayne gave chase, and Zoe turned to follow. Wash, who was supposed to protect their rear and have everyone's backs, followed, his shotgun at the ready. He had never fired one before, but his wife had given him a crash course in how to use it, how to aim it, and how to reload it.

Jayne came to a cover point in the hallway, and waved for Zoe to take up a position on the opposite side of the corridor from him, which she did. Wash picked a point several yards back, and turned around, his back to the action as Jayne fired his pistol in the direction of the attackers. As he did, one of Niska's men rounded the corner, having gotten past Book's choke point outside the hallway, and Wash lowered the shotgun before pulling the trigger.

 _Aim for the center mass, hold your breath, and squeeze the trigger._ The weapon bucked like a horse trying to kick him in the face, and he almost lost his grip on it, but the man's chest evaporated into a cloud of red, and he went down, a pool of blood spilling out underneath him. As Wash waited for the signal from his wife to move up to a new position, Wash alternated between his vigilantly covering the hallway and glancing down at the dead man.

 _I've just taken a life,_ he thought. _This man is now dead because of me._ He felt slightly sick to his stomach, and the morality of what he had just done tugged at his heart. And this was what his wife did almost on a daily basis. It was a side of her he rarely got to see, and now here he was, waist deep in it, wishing for all the world that he was back in his pilot's chair on the Bridge, getting _Serenity_ the hell out of there.

Zoe started to run up and around the curved hallway, when a trio of tangos rounded the corner. She shot the first one in the chest, and he went down. Then she blasted the second one, and he tripped over the first on his way down, too. The third began firing back, but she had enough time to take cover before he could get his weapon up, and he peppered the wall near the corner she was hiding behind, sending bits of concrete and plastiform all around the hallway next to her. A fourth joined the fray, and they were both firing their weapons at Zoe.

Jayne broke cover and rushed forward, firing with deadly precision with his pistol. He shot one of the men pretty badly, who took cover, and then, while Jayne was shooting at the second, the first broke cover and retreated from the battle. Jayne took cover, with Zoe taking up a position eight feet behind him against the opposite wall. Wash then picked a spot of cover four feet down the corridor from her, lowered his shotgun, and fired again at the lone gunman who was rushing from the other direction and trying to pin them down on either side. The man's head disintegrated.

Was had a scowl on his face as he covered the hallway. He tried not to look at the pile of blood and tissue resting in a large mass at the top of his second victim's shoulders, where his head used to be. They said the second time was easier, and they were right. He still wanted to throw up, but he was no longer a man, he was a killing machine. He had taken two lives, and he would take more before the day was out, if he had anything to say about it.

Two more were keeping them from advancing, and Jayne took a bullet to the shoulder. "Ow! _Gorramit!_ " he yelled as he pulled back behind cover. Zoe fired her shotgun again and tried to push them back, to make them break cover and retreat so she could get a clear shot at them, or at least pin them down long enough for Jayne to get back in the game and move ahead to wipe them out. They did break cover, and she shot one clean in the torso, killing him and sending him to the floor, but she was out of ammo, and dropped the shotgun as she raced forward. The remaining man kept firing at her as she did a somersault, using her forward momentum to spring to her feet as she crossed her arms and pulled a pair of pistols from two holsters under her armpits, then unloaded on the man with both weapons.

She rushed forward, and Jayne followed as they called for Wash to bring up the rear. He ran ahead and they all stopped in staggered formation, with Wash once again covering their backs. A third man ran up behind them, and Wash brought him down with a shot to the pelvis, followed by a second shot to his torso. He was dead before he hit the ground. Two more men rounded the corner, and Wash ducked into a doorway. "Help!" he yelled. "Two on our tail and I gotta reload!"

Before he could get all the words out, Jayne was firing past Wash as the pilot started loading shells into the shotgun, killing one man and driving the other behind cover. Wash's nausea was gone, and he felt nothing at the death of the third man, and instead was solely focused on getting his shotgun reloaded. He was fully blooded now, and was a true killer. Something in the back of his mind reflected on this as he worked, that now, just a little of him was like Jayne. That thought both stunned and horrified him.

"Get behind us, Preacher!" yelled Jayne. "We need cover!"

A second man joined the remaining one in the hallway, but Wash almost had his shotgun reloaded. He turned the corner and fired, but the men were too far away to get a clean shot on either of them. They were peppered with shot, which probably hurt like hell, but it wasn't enough to bring either of them down. Wash ducked back into the doorway.

Suddenly, both men were killed by Book, who shot both of them from behind with his assault rifle.

"Thanks, Preacher," Jayne said. "Appreciate the assist." Simon was with him, and kept his guard up. He had a pistol with an integrated under-barrel laser sight, which would hopefully be enough to help him hit a target at close range.

Before long, they came upon the entrance to Niska's office. Zoe shot one man in the arm and the leg, forcing him to drop his weapon, while Jayne killed the other. Zoe took the key card from around the live one's neck and placed one of her pistols under his chin as she crouched down. "What's the code?"

"I ain't tellin' you," the man spat at her.

"You tell me, or in three seconds, I start blowing off kneecaps, then elbows, then fingers until you do tell me. You can tell Niska I must have seen the code from the last time I was here."

The man was rattled. "Two-five-zero-one," he said.

Zoe slid the card into the reader and punched the code into the door panel. The door slid open. "Book, Simon, you stay here and stand guard."

"Understood," said Book.

The three fighters made their way inside, and then down into the torture chamber. Niska was nowhere to be seen, but Wash heard a commotion, and the three turned to see Mal fighting with Niska's torturer on the other side of a bank of glass windows, over the core of the Skyplex. Jayne raised his pistol, but Zoe stopped him.

"Jayne, this is something the Captain has to do for himself," she said.

"No!" Mal cried out. "No it's not!"

"Oh!" said Zoe, as all three raised their pistols, including Wash, who had pulled his revolver out of his pants, and they proceeded to drill the torturer as Mal dropped to the ground, putting over a dozen holes in the man, who pitched over the railing and down into the core as Mal watched from his spot on the catwalk.

Mal stood and turned around. "Are you three a sight for sore eyes," he said as he stepped through the broken window and back into the office.

 **(Author's Note: The question as to how many men Wash killed, and how he felt about it during and afterwards, was always in the back of my mind as I watched the fight scene in Episode 10, "War Stories", which this ficlet is entirely based upon. We only see him firing the shotgun once, but it is implied that he had other opportunities to fire, especially when Jayne called for cover from the rear. Of course, it's canon that he helped kill Niska's torturer, as we are treated to him firing with the two other fighters from the crew, but his face showed no emotion as he took out the man that had tortured him for hours, along with Mal.)**

 **(Next Time: Fry Cook Opportunity - Mal bonds with Wash to thank him for helping to save his life aboard Niska's Skyplex. In appreciation, he gives Wash his own revolver and teaches him how to use it.)**


	49. Fry Cook Opportunity

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 49: "Fry Cook Opportunity"  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Hey, I've been in a firefight before! Well, I was in a fire. Actually, I was fired. From a… fry cook opportunity. I can handle myself."  
-Wash - Firefly Episode 10: "War Stories"**

The Firefly-class transport _Serenity_ glided to a stop in its assigned berth in the Eavesdown Docks on Persephone, its landing struts settling it gently onto the boxy protrusion on the bottom of the craft that included the cargo bay, infirmary, common area, and passenger dorms. _Serenity's_ pilot, Hoban Washburne, shut down the engines, leaving the secondary life support system active, and unbelted himself from the pilot's chair.

He bounded his way out of the bridge; with the grav thrust off, Persephone's gravity was at a light .7 of Earth-That-Was, and it always put a spring in his step. Before long, he was in the compartment of the ship that doubled as a kitchen and dining room, where the Captain, his wife Zoe, and Jayne, were all sitting.

"Planetfall, Captain," Wash said simply, and was surprised when Mal stood and started to approach him. In the time it took to find another buyer for the last of their medicines, stolen from a hospital in Ariel, and make their way back to Persphone, Mal's severed ear had healed completely.

"Jingsai!" Mal exclaimed, and placed his hands around Wash's waist.

Wash was confused. "What are you…" he began, but Mal placed a finger over his lips.

"Zoe," Mal said, "your husband and I have decided that he and I have to get it on, to get all this sexual tension out of the way, and make a fair fight for his manly affections."

Zoe laughed at Wash's predicament, "I knew all that time sleeping alone would turn you sly, sir. My man is a big boy, and if that's what he wants, who am I to stand in his way?" She then went back to cleaning her "Mare's Leg" as though she couldn't be less interested in the proceedings.

Jayne chuckled. "There's somethin' familiar about this… And even more unsettlin'. I can imagine who gets to be the woman in this situation."

Wash decided to just go with it, for the sake of humor, and his reputation aboard the ship as "the funny one". "We'll be in the Captain's bunk," he said, as Mal led him out of the room, and to the weapons locker, which he unlocked, opened, and pulled out a large, brushed steel revolver with a long barrel. Then he took Wash downstairs to the cargo bay after tucking the weapon into his long, brown coat, a nod to his turn in the Unification War.

As the Captain lowered the ramp and led Wash into the docks in the late afternoon sun, Wash asked, "What is this all about, anyway, Captain?"

Mal didn't look at Wash as the pair walked side-by-side towards the city proper. "I reckon I ain't never got the chance to thank you for taking up arms and saving my life from Niska and his men," he said.

Wash smiled. "And I never got the opportunity to thank you for keeping me from breaking under torture," Wash countered.

"How many did you kill in that tussle, anyway?" Mal walked with purpose, seeming to be on his way to a specific destination.

Wash grimaced, remembering the experience vividly. "Three, with a shotgun. Four, if you count Niska's torturer," he said.

"Well, it ain't no thing to kill someone to a scatter rifle, as long as you're up close, or to kill a man with a handgun from five feet away, but you've been blooded, that's for sure. That makes you our honorary fourth fighter, and it's time for you to be trained as one," Mal said, coming to a stop before a storefront.

"I still owe you for keeping me from breaking," Wash said.

"No, no," Mal said. "You helped get me out of that place. I reckon that makes us square. If anything, I still owe you, and that's what this day is all about." He gestured to the store before them.

The shop was _Xin'hua's_ Shooting Range and Weapons Emporium, and Mal held the door open for Wash, who stepped inside.

The interior of the shop was cluttered with handguns, rifles, shotguns, swords, and knives of all sorts, in addition to accessories and even incense. Mal began picking his way through the aisles with a basket in hand, pulling out a leather quick-draw holster, a gun kit with two cans of gun oil, and four revolver speed-loaders.

"As our fourth fighter, this weapon," he said, pulling out the silver pistol from his pocket, "is yours. It's a Norinco .357 _Long_. Incidentally, this is the same pistol you used to kill Niska's torturer along with Jayne and Zoe."

Wash wanted to smile, but the moment was very serious between them. "Is that Long as in the Chinese word for 'dragon', or _Long_ as in 'the barrel is long'?"

"Dragon," said Mal, as he paid the clerk for his items and bought two 50-round boxes of ammunition for the revolver. "I figure that a wheel-gun will be more suited to you. It's easier to maintain and use, and less can go wrong with it. It may have fewer rounds before you have to reload, but if you learn where to put your shots, and make them count, that don't matter so much."

Fifteen minutes later, Wash and Mal were standing alone in the gun range section in the back of the shop. " _Zhen tama yaoming. Zhuyi,_ " said Mal as he loaded the weapon with cartridges and slipped it into the quick-draw holster on Wash's hip.

"Don't draw it unless you intend to fire. And don't put your finger onto the trigger until you're ready to shoot her." He pulled out his own pistol, showing Wash the trigger guard. "Place your finger here until you're ready."

Mal twisted a knob at the side of the booth, setting the holographic target for twenty feet. "Now, in one fluid motion, pull out the wheel-gun, point it at the target, then squeeze the trigger."

Wash did as he was told, but nothing happened. The gun did not shoot. With a chuckle, Mal showed him the safety catch on the left side of the weapon, and instructed Wash to try again, but to turn the safety off as he drew the weapon. Wash placed the revolver back into his holster, then drew it again, flipping the safety and firing at the target.

A sign above the target read "MISS", and an alarm buzzed for a second.

" _Putan!_ " exclaimed Wash.

"Not so easy as it looks, is it?" Mal asked. "It's possible for an untrained attacker to empty an entire clip or a whole wheel at a target even a dozen feet away and miss every time. Now aim carefully, with your eyes on the front sight, and the front sight between the gap in the back, hold your breath, and fire again. And squeeze the trigger, don't pull it."

Wash aimed carefully, held his breath, and squeezed the trigger. An indicator flashed to the bottom right of the target, signaling a miss, but at least he was close enough for the shot to register.

" _Ni tama de tianxia suoyou de ren dou gaisi!_ " exclaimed Wash again.

"Now, now," Mal said, soothingly. "You'll get it. You're tensing up because you're anticipating the kick the gun gives when you shoot. Loosen up when you squeeze the trigger. Also, you always gotta be mindful of what's behind your target. If you're trying to kill some _gorram hundan,_ and there's a friendly fella behind him, you run the risk of hitting the friendly if you shoot, so watch the angle. You never know when your bullet is gonna hit a bone and stop, or drill straight through and hit someone else on the other side. Oh," he turned around at this, pointing at the base of his skull, dead center, "you shoot a man right here in the brain stem, no matter what he's doing, he'll go down without moving, so even if he's holding someone hostage, a shot right here will kill him so he doesn't twitch a muscle and fire."

Mal turned back around. "Now, let's try again."

 **O-O-O**

Over the next two hours, under Mal's tutelage, Wash began to inch his shots closer and closer to the center of the target. Before long, he could even quick-draw his weapon and hit the target, not dead-center, mind, but close enough to definitely take down an enemy. Mal showed Wash how to load up his speed loaders, and how to use those to load his weapon in an emergency.

By the time they left the shop, it was dark out, and Wash was at least marginally proficient. Later, Mal promised, when they got back to the ship, he would show Wash how to clean and maintain his weapon, a weapon he was now to wear at all times.

Wash bounced ahead of his Captain, happy at the day's events, the things he had learned, and the fact that Mal trusted him to hold his own in a firefight. As he sped up and gained distance in front of Mal, he hoped that he'd never have reason to use it, but he would practice, become more proficient, and be ready, should the need ever arise.

At that moment, a man stepped from an alley in front of Mal, a pistol in his hand. "I'll take all your money, _go-se._ "

Grimacing, Mal raised his hands instinctively in the air, then reached slowly for his pocket to draw out the wad of bills he was carrying. On Persephone, alleyway robbers had a tendency to kill people that weren't carrying enough to satisfy them, and Mal had barely brought enough with him to cover his purchases. His only hope was…

There was a crack, and the man slid dead to the ground. Wash stood behind him, his _Long_ outstretched in both hands.

Mal smiled. "Looks like I owe you one, after all," he said with relief.

Mal and Wash fled the scene long before the Feds could arrive.

 **(Author's Note: I originally published this ficlet in mid-February, 2016 as a one-shot, and it was my first foray into the Firefly 'Verse. I wanted to see if I could write a standalone story in this fandom and do it justice; I'd already had Firefly: Deleted Scenes in mind, but this chapter was basically a proof-of-concept for me. After receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews and feedback, I decided to go full-steam ahead with Deleted Scenes less than a week later. This story (the standalone version) will remain in my stories list as a monument to that effort, and as the demonstration of a prototype for this much longer and infinitely more ambitious series. That said, I always wondered what happened between Episode 10, "War Stories", and Episode 13, "Heart of Gold", that caused Wash to start carrying a revolver on him, which he used in "Heart of Gold" to defend himself and Kaylee from a trio of gunmen that had invaded the ship. This is my vision of what happened, the initiation of Wash as the "Fourth Fighter" on the crew. I hope you enjoyed it.)**

 **(Next Time: Our Noble Bachelor Ranks - As Eilish/Saffron/Bridget prepares to marry Captain Monty Omeris, her past is revealed.)**


	50. Our Noble Bachelor Ranks

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 50: Our Noble Bachelor Ranks  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I thought you were gonna wear that ugly chin-wig to the grave."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Firefly Episode 11: "Trash"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 10, "War Stories", and Episode 11, "Trash".)**

Captain Monty Omeris applied a razor to his soapy visage, and scraped the stubble from his chin and the sides of his face, careful to leave his sculpted mustache intact. Today was a big day for him, the biggest of his life, and one that he never expected to come. He was a confirmed bachelor, and had sworn always to be one. Today, all of that was about to change.

Eilish, for her part, was getting ready for the big day as well. She had gone through this before, of course, and now, "Bridget Dunham", soon to be "Bridget Omeris", was zipping up the side of her wedding dress. She looked in the mirror and began to apply her makeup in the bunk that she and Monty shared, nudging him aside playfully as he shaved what used to be a monstrous and disgusting beard from his ugly face. She despised the inbred walking stack of meat, but she needed him and his crew, and following the death of her associates at the hands of Malcolm Reynolds and the crew of _Serenity,_ she was desperate. Weddings were old hat to her, though, and she often found that a good period of matrimonial bliss was often the best way to get a man to do what she wanted.

This would be her forty-first wedding, and all but four of her previous husbands were dead.

 **O-O-O**

"Eilish?" Yolanda Harris, Eilish's mother, called to her from the other room. Eilish, who had celebrated her twelfth birthday today, entered the drawing room on Osiris and the girl noticed that her mother was sporting a freshly blackened eye. "Eilish, come sit on my lap."

Eilish began to cry; it always hurt her to see her mother this way, but it was nothing compared to the pain she felt when her father beat her instead. She sat down on her mother's right thigh and draped her arms around Yolanda's neck, crying against her.

"Eilish, your father and I have spoken, and we've decided to send you to House Hadith for Companion training at their Academy," Yolanda said.

"You're sending me away?" Eilish asked between sobs.

"It's better this way. I can't get away from him myself; I have no way to support us without his money, but the least I can do is protect you from his rages," Yolanda offered. "You're going to grow up and be a respected member of society, and mingle with the highest strata. You won't need to depend on your father for anything, once your training is complete."

Eilish wanted to throw up. She hated men because of her father and what he had turned her and her mother into, the thought of a life of offering comfort to men turned her stomach. Still, she would be safe from her father at last.

"Please, tell me you don't hate me for being weak," Yolanda said.

Eilish's face contorted into a mask of despair. "Mother, I could never hate you. Please don't think that I ever could." She broke down again, sobbing into her mother's breast.

 **O-O-O**

Four years, three months, and twelve days later, Eilish had been called out of class and into the office of the House Priestess, which was also her boudoir. Eilish nervously approached the bed, where the Priestess Arlene Denton sat with her legs crossed, reclined against a small mountain of pillows.

"Please join me on the bed, Eilish. I have some news for you," the Priestess said.

Eilish did as she was told, reclining on the bed facing the opposite way. She propped her head up with one hand as she lay on her side, her elbow digging into the luxurious feather bed. "What is it?" she asked.

The Priestess put a reassuring hand on Eilish's calf. "I'm afraid your mother has been killed."

Eilish's face blanched, she felt a hand squeezing her heart and an apple in her throat. "How did it happen?" she asked, holding back her tears, willing the desire to cry back down, as she had been trained to do.

The Priestess's face was full of concern. Her voice was sympathetic and compassionate, in keeping with the training that they all shared at House Hadith. "Your father killed her; he had apparently been beating her, and he went too far and accidentally took her life; he knocked her to the ground, and her head hit some marble flooring tile rather hard, fracturing her skull. She died at the hospital a few hours later this morning."

"I see," said Eilish, barely containing her rage. "Is my father under arrest?"

"Of course," said the Priestess. "However, since the death was unintentional, it is likely he will not be imprisoned for too many years. I'm so sorry, Eilish."

Eilish closed her eyes. It didn't matter that her mother's death was an accident. She would make her father pay in ways the law could not, and then she would have his money. She would then be able to retire and forget about being a toy for men she despised.

 **O-O-O**

Eilish's father, Stephen Harris, received a sentence of eight years in prison for his crime, but he did not live long enough to see the outside ever again. She was already working rather successfully as a Companion from the age of twenty, and had saved every penny she could while she developed contacts in the underworld, and had paid handsomely for someone in the same prison as her father to make sure he had an "accident" of his own.

Eilish's victory was brief, however, as she learned from her father's attorney that she had not been included in his will, and that all of his money, the house, and everything that he owned had been left to his mistress, a woman that he apparently appreciated more and treated better than he ever had Eilish or her mother. The Companion's rage exploded, and she vowed that she would have her revenge on all men everywhere if she could, and take them down, one at a time.

 **O-O-O**

Eilish was twenty-seven years old when she finally got caught. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Once more, she had been summoned to the House Priestess's bedroom, and prepared to lay upon the bed once more, completely oblivious as to why she had been summoned. This time, Priestess Arlene Denton approached Elish as she entered the room, a frown upon her face.

"Can I help you, Priestess?" she asked.

"Yes, you can," said the Priestess. "You can explain how you could possibly have sunk so low as to have wheedled money out of at least three of your clients for an operation to benefit a mother now long dead."

As she had the last time she had entered this room, Eilish's face whitened at the Priestess's words. So some of her clients had been comparing notes about her, and three of them had come forward about the money she had conned out of them. She didn't have the heart to tell the Priestess that she had in fact stolen from no less than twenty-seven of her clients. And she had been doing so well at amassing that fortune that her father had robbed from her.

"I have nothing to say, Priestess," Eilish answered. And why should she say anything? She had been caught, and she knew it. Lying about it would only make matters worse.

"Your room is being packed as we speak," said the Priestess. "You are hereby expelled from the Companion's Guild, and will never be permitted to re-apply for membership. You will be shunned by all members for the rest of your life, and all clients you have ever seen through the registry will be informed of your activities, and warned not to assist you financially under any circumstances, lest they face a black mark and be stricken from the registry for life."

"Yes, Priestess," Eilish said.

"You will leave this House immediately, and make arrangements for a place to stay. When you have informed us of the location of your new home, your things will be sent to you at our expense."

"Yes, Priestess," Eilish said.

"Now, leave my sight. I never want to have to look at you again. Your hatred of men, and your clients, has been your downfall, and will forever continue to be so until you let go of your hate."

"Yes, Priestess," Eilish said, and turned to go, her face devoid of expression.

 **O-O-O**

Later that evening, Eilish sat in a bar, wearing the opulent outfit she had been wearing in House Hadith, and smiled as a young, very well-dressed man approached her and offered to buy her a drink.

"Are you married?" she asked, already knowing the answer to the question. She had seen the ring finger of his left hand when he was still a dozen feet away.

"Not at all, ma'am. I've never been married," the man said.

"Good," she said, and smiled. She had made a living wrapping men around her finger. Now that there were no rules, no fear of getting caught, this was all going to be so much easier.

 **O-O-O**

"I do," Eilish said years later in the wedding chapel on Bellerophon, and turned to kiss Durran Haymer, her seventh and most recent husband. She had mellowed over the years, and having adopted her mother's name, "Yolanda", she had found a man she could actually stomach, and even respect. He offered her the world, and she was happy to take it from him. With luck, she might even stay with this one.

"You make me so happy," he whispered in his clipped Titan accent as the audience, an assembly of over a thousand, broke into thunderous applause. It was by far the most lavish wedding she had ever attended, let alone been a part of. She could get used to this sort of treatment.

"Ladies and gentlemen," said the Shepherd, "I now present to you: Durran and Yolanda Haymer!" And the crowd went wild.

Eilish smiled. This was the closest to happiness she had ever known.

 **O-O-O**

Eight years later, as Yolanda stood at the edge of the ship's berth with the assembled crew of _The Angel of the Black_ , waiting, resplendent in her wedding dress, for the hovervan that was to take them to the Justice of the Peace for the ceremony. Her hatred for all of them was strong, but her need for money was even greater. Not a one of them even remotely suspected who and what she really was, and that was the way "Bridget" liked it. She only wished the Carrion House was still operating, so she could know the joy of driving all of them to their deaths once the job she had in mind was over.

She looked at Monty and smiled sweetly. "You know it's bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony?" she asked.

"Ain't never believed in luck," Monty said. "We'll be fine, my lady."

That was okay with "Bridget". She had never believed in luck, either. She was content to make her own. Eilish gave Monty a chaste peck on the cheek, and leaned her head against his shoulder as they waited.

 **(Author's Note: I've always been curious about "Saffron's" backstory, and apparently so have many people, since I've gotten so many requests for a ficlet addressing it. As such, I have broken down and offered my vision, not only of who Saffron was, but why she came to turn into the monster she did. It is my sincere hope that you enjoyed having these questions answered, and that the answers were everything you hoped. I am happy to have given in to the requests, even demands of my fans, and writing this ficlet has been, as always, a pleasure.)**

 **(Next Time: The Wobbly-Headed Doll Caper - Desperate for money, the crew takes a low-paying job to smuggle geisha dolls past the Alliance.)**


	51. The Wobbly-Headed Doll Caper

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 51: The Wobbly-Headed Doll Caper  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Hey! People LOVE those!"  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Firefly Episode 11: "Trash"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 10, "War Stories", and Episode 11, "Trash".)**

Mal and Zoe lowered the ramp for their guest, who had just waved them from his truck. As the ramp fully extended, Duchamps and Brennan got out, and began bringing in cargo containers, which they stacked up in the bay.

"Sorry for the low pay on this one, but as you'll soon see, we're not transporting anything particularly profitable this time around," Brennan said, popping open the top container.

Inside were a large number of dolls, geisha dolls, each dressed in red, blue, or green. Brennan picked one up and propped it on the edge of the cargo container. It had a big head that wobbled slightly from the force he used to set it down.

"Wobbly-headed dolls?" asked Mal.

"Yup," said Duchamps. "People love these. Problem is, if we import them through the proper channels, we literally lose all our profit."

"I see," said Mal. "Well, we'll get these into the smuggler's hold and out of sight in the event we get boarded. You understand that on a low-payment job like this, we can't even afford the additional fuel to take anything but a direct route?"

"Of course," said Brennan. "Don't worry about it. There's nothing detectable about these dolls, so even if you do hit a checkpoint, there won't be anything to find."

"Alright," said Mal. "Three days, seventy-five in platinum on delivery, as we discussed."

"Agreed," said Brennan, and the two men shook hands. Duchamps and Brennan departed, and Zoe raised the ramp. With the additional, legal cargo they had taken on for their trip to Santho, they should be able to turn a tight profit, but a profit nonetheless.

Mal pushed a button on the comm on the wall. "Wash, take us out of the world."

"Be out of atmo in five minutes, Mal," said Wash over the speaker.

Outside, once _Serenity_ had taken off, Duchamps turned to Brennan. "You realize that if they do get boarded, we'll probably lose the cargo. We should have paid them more."

"It's a calculated risk," said Brennan. "Don't worry about it. Besides, if we'd told them what was in the cargo, they'd have easily demanded at least five times what we paid them. Do you know what that would do to our profit margin?"

 **O-O-O**

That night, at the dinner table, Mal relaxed with his crew. "No stowaways, no feds, no explosions in the core, and best of all, no wives. It's going to be a nice, easy three days."

"Except for the rewiring of the grav thrust again," complained Kaylee, "because our compression coil is on the verge of giving up the ghost, Captain."

Mal's face soured. "You come up with two grand in credits, I'll be happy to get you a new compression coil, Kaylee," he said. "I was going to buy one with the take from the job on Ariel, but most of that ended up in Niska's pocket."

"I still can't believe that _xiongmeng de kuangren_ is still walking the earths," said Inara. "Is it true what Zoe said? We're really transporting wobbly-headed dolls?"

"Sad to say," Mal replied. "Yes, we've sunk so low that we're relegated to shipping toys."

"At least we're getting paid somethin'," Jayne added. "We ain't had a job in a week. Work's been too _gorram_ slow, ya ask me."

"Work'll pick back up," Mal said. "We're just in a slow patch. Don't worry."

Book spoke up at this point. "You need to have faith, Jayne."

 **O-O-O**

A day out from Santho, _Serenity_ was stopped by an Alliance checkpoint. As there were two ships ahead of them, they had plenty of time before being boarded, and had River and Simon suit up before placing them in the cramped space of the smuggler's hold. As long as the boarding party didn't take longer than eight hours searching the ship, they would be fine in there.

The Lieutenant who was handling the search was haggard and overworked when he and his armed party boarded _Serenity_. He checked their papers and noted the lack of bow markings and the out of date stamp on their license, which Mal explained away as being a lack of passing through a checkpoint recently. Mal promised to get his certification updated when they next pulled into a civilized port, and the Lieutenant promised to let Mal off with a warning, assuming they found no further violations.

The Alliance personnel from the _I.A.V. Columbus_ performed a perfunctory search, centered mainly on the cargo bay, which turned up no contraband. When the Lieutenant learned that a registered Companion and a Shepherd were on board, he seemed almost relieved, and told his men to wrap it up, calling off the drug-sniffing dogs they had standing by for a deeper search.

Mal took his warning, which was presented to him on an official form, and the _Columbus_ let them go on their way. The entire search took four hours and seventeen minutes.

Once this ship was underway, which took a while for the ship to get back up to speed with the grav thrust offline due to Kaylee's work, and required everyone to brace themselves during the acceleration procedure, Mal and Zoe opened the panel in the wall and allowed Simon and River out of their hiding space; they immediately began to shrug out of their suits.

Zoe took the breastplates of the suits and immediately hooked them up to the recharging unit, which began to refill the air tanks; it wouldn't do to have the suits' oxygen mostly depleted in the event they needed them again. Meanwhile, Kaylee got back to work on the grav thrust. The rewiring would have to be completed in time for them to arrive at Santho, otherwise they would be in for an incredibly rough ride when they attempted re-entry.

Mal went aft to the engine room to talk to Kaylee. "How are the entry couplings, _xiaomeimei?"_

"They'll last for another week, Captain. After that, they're going to need to be replaced."

"Another week. Got it," Mal said, and made a mental note to deal with the situation when they had money to spare, which at this rate would likely be never. After the mishap with the catalyzer, he had become genuinely concerned with the state of the engine, and Kaylee's complaining about the port compression coil began to worry him greatly. He understood that the core was a ticking time bomb, and the next time they had as failure in the Black, if it was the coil, and they were off the grid, there might be no hope for any of them this time.

 **O-O-O**

Twenty-seven hours later, with the grav thrust fully rewired and the port compression coil back to working order, at least temporarily, _Serenity_ made re-entry to Santho. The entry couplings held, as promised, although there was a disturbing rattling in the primary buffer panel, which rumbled deep into the bowels of the ship. Despite this, Wash brought them down gentle as a downy feather into the Paoli docks.

Four hours later, as the sun began to dip toward the horizon, a truck driven by their contact, Philip O'Brien, pulled up to the ramp, and Jayne and Zoe began to load the crates onto the truck while O'Brien handed over a sack of platinum coins to Mal. Tomorrow, Mal and Zoe would take a manifest of their cargo to one of the local grocery stores and try to sell what they had left in their hold. If they were lucky, they'd get a good price, that would more than make up for the fact that they were barely breaking even on this deal.

"So, I take it the run went off without a hitch?" O'Brien asked.

"Well, we did get boarded," Mal said, "but fortunately, as promised, there was nothing to be detected with the dolls. They were safe in our smuggler's hold."

O'Brien went white at the mention of the ship being boarded, but quickly recovered. "I'm glad," he said, trying to keep his cool.

O'Brien opened the last container before it was loaded, and pocketed one of the dolls.

"What's that for?" Mal asked as O'Brien began to walk away.

"I'm gonna stick it on my dashboard," he said with a smile and headed for the cab of the truck.

Once inside, he signaled for the driver to start the vehicle, and as it began to pull away, he broke open the doll, and a trio of plastic baggies twisted into balls fell out into his hand.

"Which do you have?" asked the driver.

"Heroin," said O'Brien, after opening one of the baggies and tasting the brown powder lightly to confirm that it was in fact what he had been promised. They had gotten incredibly lucky that despite the fact that _Serenity_ had been boarded, the drugs had not been detected. "All the greens have heroin in them, all the blues have Slice, and all the reds have bottles of drops. We're gonna be filthy rich thanks to this deal, and best of all, we got those fools to ferry the cargo for next to nothing!"

The crew of _Serenity_ settled in for a good night's sleep, oblivious as to how close they had come to disaster.

 **(Author's Note: Once again, this chapter is the result of the collective will of my fans, many of whom have expressed a desire to see what the "Wobbly-Headed Doll Caper" was all about. While I will admit it's not my most exciting or best ficlet by any estimation, I found it entertaining to write, and hope that it is just as entertaining to read, especially given the true nature of the dolls, as revealed at the end. As particularly astute readers will already have figured out, the true nature of the dolls was inspired by virgin Mary statuettes from the television series "Lost". If you have a Deleted Scene you'd like to see, there's still time to get it into the pipeline, so feel free to drop me a PM with your suggestion. Note that I am working in chronological order, so I'm really only talking suggestions that take place between the end of the series and the beginning of the film at this point. Hope to hear from you soon! And, as always, your reviews and remarks are always welcome.)**

 **(Next Time: What? You Didn't See It Coming? - Mal and the crew of _Serenity_ plan to play Saffron in their attempt to steal the Lassiter from Durran Haymer.)**


	52. What? You Didn't See It Coming?

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.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 52: What? You Didn't See It Coming?  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **No wanderin' about, remember? Or I'll stick you back in your crate."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Firefly Episode 11: "Trash"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 11, "Trash".)**

Mal listened intently to Eilish, or "Saffron", as she explained the basics of the job to him. A million square, she said. A million credits. That was enough for everyone on the crew to retire in luxury if they wanted to. He'd probably lose Jayne, maybe Kaylee as well. Zoe would stay for sure, and where Zoe went, Wash would follow, so he'd stay, too. The Doctor, River, and Book would stay. He wasn't entirely sure what that kind of money would do to the crew; too much money would be a double-edged sword, and might mean the end of their happy family.

But one thing was for sure, he thought as he listened to Saffron go on. She would betray them all, as sure as the turn of the worlds. She would play them if she could. _That's all anyone ever does,_ she had said once. _We play parts._

It was time to give Saffron a taste of her own medicine. "Give me the blueprints. I want to look them over," he said. She rummaged around in the bag that shared the crate with her, along with a multitude of ration bars they were smuggling. He took the chip from her outstretched hand and told her he'd be back after he had time to look them over. Then he closed the lid to the crate once more and locked her in.

Once that was done, he pocketed the chip and climbed the stairs to the Bridge, where Zoe was talking to Wash. "Zoe, gather everyone on the ship except for Simon, River, and the Preacher, and have them gather in the dining area. Tell Kaylee to bring a tablet, and I'll get Inara. Do _not_ use the intercom. It's important, so hurry. Wash, I want you there, too."

A minute later, Mal entered Inara's shuttle again. "Mind if I come in?" he asked."

"Are you back for another round?" she asked. "I'm really not in the mood to continue fighting with you, Mal. Especially after you just walked out on the last one."

"No fighting," he said. "I need your help, and it's worth a hundred thousand credits to you if we can pull this off," he said.

Inara quirked a brow, intrigued.

 **O-O-O**

A short while later, the crew was gathered, minus the Doctor and their passengers. Most were seated at the table, but Inara and Mal both stood at one side of the room.

The Captain handed over the chip to Kaylee, who plugged it into her tablet, and a schematic of a building and its surrounding grounds were displayed. "What's this about, sir?" she asked.

Mal smirked. "Saffron's aboard," he said. "We brought her inside in one of those crates we're smuggling. Seems she married Monty, but he granted himself a quick divorce when I told him about what happened the last time we met her."

Wash was beside himself. " _Wo de ma!_ What the rutting hell did you bring her on board for?"

"She says she has a job for us," Mal said. "She was gonna have Monty and his crew pull it for her, but once she was stranded, she offered it to me. She says it's worth a clean million credits, and she wants half."

"She'll betray us again, and keep all the bounty for herself," Zoe said flatly.

"That much is clear, but I called this meeting because I plan for us to play her. Quick rundown: The mark's name is Durran Haymer, and he's got a priceless pistol in his parlor, the Lassiter, the prototype laser pistol from Earth-That-Was. We need to come up with a plan, and quickly, on how we can get the loot and then steal it out from under her before she can screw us. Kaylee, the reason you have the blueprints is because his entire collection of valuables are tagged and coded; they pass through a door or window, the alarms go off and the Feds arrive almost instantly. You've got fifteen minutes to find a way to get it out of there without tripping the sensors."

Kaylee continued looking over the schematics and blueprints. "Looks like it's a floating island on Bellerophon." She flipped through pages of blueprints. "The air vents don't have sensors on them; we could possibly get it out through the ventilation system. Wait; what's this chute? There's a whole network of them and they don't have sensors, either."

Mal rubbed his chin while Kaylee worked at a fevered pitch, scanning through documents. After another ten minutes, she had followed the chutes to their termination point, a boxy protrusion on the bottom of the island, in the center, in between six giant repuslor modules.

"It's the garbage collection system. It terminates in a dumpster on the bottom of the facility. Looks like a drone picks up the dumpsters when a collection button is pushed. If the dumpster has electronics…"

Everyone leaned in as Kaylee pulled up schematics on the dumpster. "Here!" she said, pointing to a panel on the bin. "The guidance coordinates are located on a printed circuit board in this module. If we can reprogram it, we can reroute the drone to a new location."

"Rough, but it works. You really think you can do it?" Mal asked.

"I have to go through the specifics, but I think so," Kaylee answered.

"Okay, good. I was thinking, if there was a way for us to split up, Inara would be our trump card. Saffron and I go inside and get the Lassiter while _Serenity_ reprograms the bin from underneath. Saffron will probably try to find a way to disarm and abandon me; she'll probably dump me in the middle of nowhere and take Shuttle 2 to pick up the loot, so the Doctor will have to implant a homing beacon into my arm. She'll also probably try to sabotage the ship, so that no one on board will be able to collect the loot, either." Mal turned to Inara. "In that case, you'll play a key role. When I bring her out of the crate she's in and have her explain the job to everyone, you throw a fit and storm off. I don't want her thinking you know anything about the plan. When we hit Bellerophon, you take off like you're going to see some clients, but instead, you head for the dumpster's landing site, take the loot when it arrives, and then clear the area so that she gets there, then enters the dumpster, completely ignorant to the fact that we've already got the loot. Then, Inara returns on foot and locks her in, then heads back for _Serenity;_ once she's docked with the ship, she picks up Zoe so Zoe can pick up Shuttle 2 and pilot it back home again."

"What if she doesn't betray us?" Kaylee asked.

"Don't worry, she will," replied Jayne. "Tiger can't change its stripes."

"Okay, we've got a tentative plan. Anyone have any questions?"

Nobody spoke up. "Alright, shiny," Mal said. "Everyone should go about their business. When I let her out, I'll call for everyone over the intercom. You have to be sure to act like this meeting never happened, and act surprised to see her again. Kaylee, you ain't any good at lyin', so you don't say anything unless it directly pertains to you or your part in the job. When we have to come up with a plan, wait at least a day before you come up with the trash plan."

"Got it," said Kaylee.

"I know none of us is actors, but we can't let Saffron twig to the fact that we're playin' her, or else the game is over."

Nobody spoke up.

"Jayne? You up for this?" Mal asked.

"Don't gotta worry none about me, Mal. I can do this," Jayne replied.

"Good," Mal said. "Remember, we play this right, we can walk away with a share of a cool million, maybe more. Try to stay flexible; we have a basic plan, but if we the specifics don't work out, we may have to rethink the details. Okay, everyone back to where you were before this meeting was called. Inara, I won't call you for this meeting, but you show up in the galley a few minutes after we start, for your big 'scene'."

Mal took the chip back, and headed back into the cargo bay as everyone dispersed. Mal stifled a smile as he bounded down the steps and opened the crate again.

"Okay," Mal said. "I'm interested. I'm going to call a meeting so you and I can brief the rest of the crew. Come on out."

Saffron slowly curled out of the crouched position she was in and with Mal's help, stepped out of the crate, then pulled out her duffel. "How did you come upon this job, anyway?" Mal asked.

"Let's just say that I have some prior familiarity with the mark," Saffron said.

She smiled as Mal made his way over to the intercom. Playing this crew once had been business as usual, but after they had destroyed her means of making a living, and especially after Mal had ruined her plans with Monty, this time it was personal, and she was going to enjoy every moment of sticking it to them. She only wished that she could see all their faces as she sped off in one of a helpless _Serenity's_ shuttles with the loot in her bag.

Mal picked up the intercom. "Zoe, Wash, Kaylee, and Jayne, please report to the galley immediately," he said into the microphone.

No matter how it played out, she was going to have the last laugh, and it was going to be a sheer pleasure.

 **(Author's Note: One of the biggest questions in my mind when watching Episode 11, "Trash", was when and how Mal had gotten the whole crew in on the con, and primed them to play Saffron. The only answer was that they must have had a meeting before they took her out of the crate, and Inara's role in the plan could only have been solidified if they had already known how they were going to split up, and that the loot was going to be travelling on its own, without any of them in possession in it. That means that they would have had to have come up with a plan rather quickly, to prevent Saffron from realizing that they were on to her. I hope you enjoyed my vision of what happened. And as always, I am eager for feedback and reviews, so feel free to PM me or leave a review, especially if you enjoyed what you've been reading. Finally, I want to apologize for the confusion in my posting of chapters recently. First of all, for those that don't know, I publish the actual chapter of the day just before I publish the placeholder chapter that is to be published five days hence, so for those that are following or have favorited me or my story, the actual chapter should be available within five days of you receiving a notification. Additionally, it has recently come to my attention that my dates on my placeholder chapters was a day earlier than the intended publication date, so people were checking pages that were listed to be published on that day, when I was actually intending to publish the day after. This has now been corrected. Sorry about that.)**

 **(Next Time: The Patsy Being Stole From - Durran Haymer relates his testimony about the theft of his priceless Lassiter to the Feds. The ultimate fate of Eilish/Saffron/Bridget/Yolanda is revealed at last.)**


	53. The Patsy Being Stole From

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 53: The Patsy Being Stole From  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I'm embarrassing? Who's the dupe on the floor?"  
-Saffron - Firefly Episode 11: "Trash"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 11, "Trash".)**

"Sir? Sir, are you alright?" The Fed slapped Durran lightly on the cheek after checking for a pulse, and the man slowly began to rouse, much to the relief of the officer. "Are you injured, Mr. Haymer?"

Durran stirred, and began to sit up. "She kicked me in the head. I have a terrible headache, but I don't think I'm badly injured," he said in his clipped, Titan accent.

"We were unable to catch the perpetrators, but at least they weren't able to kidnap you, sir. Are you ready to stand up?"

Durran nodded, and the Fed helped him to his feet. He looked over at the display stand where his beloved Lassiter had been, and shook his head ruefully. "They weren't here to kidnap me. I've been robbed."

 **O-O-O**

A half an hour later, Federal Marshall Trystan Adams sat down in an easy chair in front of the mahogany desk in Durran Haymer's office, on the third floor of his estate. An assistant was setting up a Capture on a tripod that would allow both men to be recorded simultaneously. One lens was pointed directly at Haymer, a second lens was pointed at the Marshall in profile.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Mr. Haymer?" Adams asked.

"Yes, I'll be fine. The analgesic your medic administered to me is working nicely. I barely feel any pain anymore; I'm just a tad woozy, but I'm ready."

"Very well," Adams said. "Then why don't you start at the beginning?"

"Well, I had a large number of caterers and servants hired to set up for a rather elaborate party I'm hosting this weekend…"

"Yes, we've noticed them. It made figuring out who our targets were rather difficult. I'm sure they were counting on that," Adam said.

"Anyway," Duran continued, "I was in my office, making calls, when I received a bulletin on the estate's security system that someone had entered my parlor, up on the ninth floor. I took the lift up, and went into the parlor. The first thing I noticed was a man, approximately six feet tall, with a full head of brown hair, with his hand in his breast pocket. I remember pointing and saying, "You!" because he was standing very close to the Lassiter-"

"That was the antique laser pistol that was stolen?" Adams asked.

"That's correct. The man quickly removed his hand from his pocket, and that was when I realized he wasn't alone. My wife was with him, standing to my left."

"That would be one…" Adams consulted a tablet he had in his lap, "Yolanda Haymer, reported missing on February 19th, 2511."

"That's correct," said Haymer. "I rushed to embrace her, and as I did, I pressed the alarm button on the ring I wear on my right index finger. She had been missing for six years, and while I was relieved to see her, it made no sense that she would return without making contact first. Nor did it make sense that she would have the security codes to get into the building, or be in my parlor without attempting to see me first. I assumed she was there for the purpose of theft, and that's why I pressed the alarm button."

"What did they say to you following that?" Adams queried.

"Well, Yolanda spun a tale, which the other man was quick to disavow any knowledge of, that she had been set upon by men while on the second moon, Parth, and that while they had intended to demand ransom for her, they instead sold her into slavery. I didn't believe a word of it, but I played along. She said that she had promised the man eight hundred credits for returning her to me, so I made my excuses and went to my office safe to get the money."

"You left them alone in the parlor?" Adams asked.

"Yes; well, I figured the alarm had already been tripped, and I wanted to give them some time alone to do whatever it was they were doing, so I'd have a better idea of what they were after by the time I returned. I did hurry, after all. When I got back to the office, the man had the Lassiter in his hands, and Yolanda had a pistol pointed at him. I'll never forget… She said to him, 'Anything else you want on your tombstone, you piece of crap?'"

"What did the man say?" Adams inquired.

"I didn't give him the luxury of a response. I said, 'Now I'm the one intruding,' as I stepped into the room."

"What type of weapon was it?" asked Adams.

"I'm not sure of the exact make, but it was a ballistic pistol, not a laser, with an under-barrel laser sight, which did not appear to be turned on," Durran said.

"I see," said Adams. "And then what happened?"

"Yolanda, who had been gushing with adoration before, was still trying to be placating. She said that things weren't as they appeared to be. Then the man said, 'Unless it looks like we're stealing your priceless Lassiter, because that's what we're doing.' I thanked him for his honesty, 'Not, you know, a lot,' I said. And then Yolanda tried to make it sound as though the man had forced her into this plan. By this point I was quite done with her dissembling, and asked her to just stop. The man went and, I presume, placed the Lassiter in the refuse chute as she lowered the weapon."

Adams picked up his comm. "Ben, see if they can trace any stray garbage bins; one of them may have been rerouted. We're looking for an antique laser pistol from Earth-That-Was."

"Roger that," came the voice over the comm.

"Now, continuing on. What happened after that?" asked Adams.

"I looked at Yolanda with pity and disappointment in my eyes. She told me not to look at her like that, then she screamed the same words to me and leveled the pistol at me."

" _Wo de ma!_ " exclaimed Adams. "Were you frightened?"

"Not in the slightest. If I held enough sway that a look could do that to her, I supposed that she wouldn't be able to bear to shoot me. Fortunately, I didn't have to find out. The man reached down into – I may have forgotten to mention this, but there were a pair of floral bouquets on the floor, probably used to blend in with the servants and caterers, and the man reached down into his and withdrew a pistol, aiming it at Yolanda and telling her that there would be no killing today. He finally screamed at her to drop the pistol, and she did so, at which time he tucked her weapon into his pants."

"Did they leave at that point?" Adams asked.

"Not right away. Yolanda took the opportunity to insult me, and to insult my intelligence specifically. She said that if I'd had half a brain, I would have called for security the moment I saw her. It was at this time I showed her my ring and told her that's exactly what I had done. At this point, her behavior became truly bizarre."

"In what way?" asked Adams, his brow furrowed.

"In that she took a seductive tone with me as the sound of sirens became evident, and promised me she'd do anything for me if I called you off, told you that my emergency call had been a mistake. I felt truly sorry for her, and I told her so. I said that she was embarrassing herself. It was at that point that she performed a spinning kick, and her foot rushing towards my face was the last thing I remembered before your men roused me."

"I see," said Adams. "One moment, please." He picked up his comm again. "Ben? What's the latest?"

"Adams, we've traced one of the bins to Isis Canyon on the near side of the desert. Durran Haymer's wife was locked inside of it, but we found no trace of any antique laser pistol. Yolanda Haymer says she's willing to give up the names of her compatriots if we let her go."

Adams looked to Durran. "Mr. Haymer, that's your call."

Durran looked angry. "No deals. I don't care nearly as much about getting the Lassiter back as I do about the wife that abandoned me without a word paying for her betrayal. It seems like they betrayed her before she could betray them, and that man quite possibly saved my life, so I have little interest in apprehending him or any others involved in the robbery."

Adams nodded. "I understand, sir." He then spoke into his comm. "Ben, Mr. Haymer says no deals. Bring her in and process her. Tell her we're going to throw the book at her, and that we hope she has a good lawyer."

Adams stood up and turned to his assistant. "John, you can turn that off and break it down now," he then turned back to Durran. "Unless there's anything else you'd like to add, Mr. Haymer."

"No," Durran said. "Nothing at this time."

 **O-O-O**

In the end, Yolanda Durran's – or Eilish Harris's – true identity was revealed, as was the fact that she had been operating with various crime syndicates using a staggering one-hundred and seventeen aliases. The Companion's Guild also came forward during the highly publicized case, and twenty-one men, all of the surviving clients she had conned before the Guild had expelled her, testified against her, as did one of her other former husbands. She had been charged with a litany of crimes, and served thiry-seven years out of a fifty-five year sentence, although it was strongly suspected that she had not been indicted in hundreds of other possible crimes, including a number of murders. Upon her release, she was quoted as saying that her only regret was that she didn't have the opportunity to punish more men for their crimes against women. She was re-arrested three years later and sentenced to an additional twenty years in prison. She died during incarceration in an "accident", prior to her release.

 **(Author's Note: This is the last we'll be seeing of Eilish/Saffron in this series. I wanted to give her a good send off, and to show what finally happened to her, as well as to give her a good reason for not revealing the names of the** _ **Serenity**_ **crew in a plea deal, which is a big unanswered question in the series, and the primary reason for this deleted scene. Eilish has been featured in a whopping seven ficlets, more than any other supporting character in this series, and that alone is testament to how fascinating, unique, and nuanced a character she is. I hope you have enjoyed her arc.)**

 **(Next Time: What'd Y'All Order A Dead Guy For? - While transporting the corpse of PFC Tracy Smith back to St. Albans, Mal and Zoe commiserate and reminisce about the young man with the rest of the crew.)**


	54. What'd Y'All Order A Dead Guy For?

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 54: What'd Y'all Order A Dead Guy For?  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **If anyone even knows I took a corpse in, I'll lose my franchise."  
-Postmaster Amnon Duul - Firefly Episode 12: "The Message"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 12, "The Message".)**

Mal and Zoe placed the crate containing the coffin with Tracy Smith's body in it onto the deck of the cargo bay. The others stood by, watching in silence at the gravity of the moment. They opened the coffin and searched for any signs that might indicate why and how he died. A voice recorder was cluched in his hands, and they played the message he had left behind.

"St. Albans ain't but a two day's ride, we burn hard enough," Wash said.

After confirming with Inara that the detour wouldn't affect her schedule too badly, Mal ordered Wash to set a course, and then beckoned the others to join him and Zoe in the galley.

Once there, Mal pulled out a bottle of wine, and uncorked it. The crew passed the bottle around, drinking from it as they went, and the Captain and his first officer began to reminisce as the ship disengaged from the Skyplex and headed for Tracy's homeworld.

 **O-O-O**

It was New Kashmir, during the winter campaign. The platoon was laying down in a trench, with the enemy entrenched not ten yards away. They had been stuck in that position for over a week, with no significant amounts of ammo on either side, and no food. They had been calling out insults and jokes to each other, knowing that neither side was in any position to do anything about it.

"Hey," yelled one of the Alliance soldiers, "how many Independent soldiers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?"

"How many?" Tracy and several others asked at once.

"As many as possible!" the Alliance solider said, to laughter on both sides.

"Only if they're officers," Tracy replied.

"Yeah, well…" the Alliance called out, "I hear your officers are almost as useless as ours are."

"Damn straight," said Tracy. "The rear hasn't given us a single piece of _go-se_ to eat or even shoot at you."

"Don't worry," said an Alliance across the field of battle, which was silent except for the occasional pot shot someone took at the other side, a single gunshot ringing out in the silent night. "We don't have anything, either."

"Not even food?" asked Tracy. "We haven't eaten in a week."

"Hang on," said someone on the other side. "We might be able to help you out with that."

Silence ensued. "They'll probably arrange to throw some rocks at us to eat," said Zoe.

Around ten minutes later, a bunch of large, red apples began to rain into their trench.

"Food!" called one of the men. Several scrambled into a crouch and started gathering them up, including Tracy.

"Wait!" yelled Sergeant Reynolds. "They might-"

He was interrupted by a trio of popping sounds, and three of the men had had their heads blown off, their bodies ending at their ribcages. Tracy, who had been about to take a bite, and dropped his apple to the ground in horror.

"Griswalds," said Zoe.

"Enjoying them?" yelled a woman from the other side, then began to laugh.

" _Ta shi suoyou diyu de biaozi de ma!_ " yelled Mal loud enough for the Alliance to hear, and more laughter was heard from the opposing trench.

"Just wait until we get some ammo," yelled Zoe. "You're going to pay for that, you _wangbadans!"_

"We'll see," came the reply. "If your women come over here with a flag of truce and service our men, we promise to send them back with ration packs."

"Send over your mothers to us instead," Mal yelled, "and we'll send them back with extra holes in them."

"Big talk from a man who can't even keep his people from eating our 'magical apples'," said the Alliance woman.

"I can't believe how close I just came to dying," whispered Tracy. "I literally almost lost my head."

"It's like I keep telling you, Tracy," Mal said, "everybody dies. Just don't do anything so stupid again. Beware strangers bearing gifts, especially when they're on the other side of a war from you."

 **O-O-O**

It was the Battle of Du-Khang, and the remnants of the platoon met up with the 22nd at the school system, having taken the freshly re-opened southwest corridor; Mal carried Tracy over his shoulder while Zoe assisted the Lieutenant.

"I need a medic!" Mal shouted as they arrived, and a man came rushing over.

"He was hit by rocks and debris from a Seeker," Mal said. "I threw up a flare, but he still got pelted."

The medic pulled up the back of Tracy's armor. "Looks like some bruised ribs. His back's gonna be all purple by morning, but he should be okay. I'm gonna dope him for the pain, and give him a bottle of Harucodone to keep him on his feet while it heals." The medic injected Tracy with a pneumatic medi-gun, and handed him a bottle of pills. "Every four to six hours, as needed. You'll notice you'll be chatty and woozy. Do your best to fight through that, and you should be fine. Do _not_ chew them, understand? And if you have trouble breathing, stop taking them at once, and seek me out."

"Yeah, I got it," Tracy said, already noticeably better. The medic headed off to work on other injured and wounded.

Tracy sat up, wincing in pain as he did so. "You should have left me behind, Sarge. I could have gotten you killed."

Mal smirked. "We leave no man behind, Private. Remember?"

"And you find someone to carry you. Yeah, I remember what you said when you first took over the platoon."

"Let me see if I can get you a cup of coffee. I could use one, too. You see which way Zoe went?"

"Over that way," said Tracy, pointing off to the left.

"Shiny. I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, and try not to work that back until I return." He wandered off in search of a field mess that held the promise of hot coffee.

 **O-O-O**

"He's passed out," Tracy said.

"He does seem to be unconscious, sir," said Zoe.

Mal regarded the unmoving form of Colonel Obrin, who had drunk himself into a stupor before going off on a three-hour tear about how terrible the men under his command were. It was not only demoralizing for the troops, but given the sacrifices they'd all made, and the blood they'd lost, it was downright insulting. "Let's get him into his bunk," Mal said.

The trio tried to get him up, and he moaned in his sleep, but the huge man was simply too heavy to lift. "Okay, that's enough," Mal said. "I give up. We leave him here."

"I've got an idea," Tracy said, and produced a pair of shears.

"What's that gonna do, Corporal?" Zoe asked.

"Simple," Tracy said. "Watch." Without a word, he bent down, and snipped off the Colonel's huge, waxed mustache.

"Oh, _xiao gao,"_ Mal said. "He's gonna pitch a fit when he wakes up."

The next morning, Obrin awoke with a huge hangover, lying on the floor of the barracks he was in. He felt a cool breeze from the air conditioning system on his face, and felt air in a place unfamiliar to him: his upper lip. He reached up and touched his face, and realized to his shock and horror that his mustache was gone. Enraged, he lumbered to his feet and staggered over to the intercom. "Muster all the platoons in the yard," he said to Command and Control. Immediately, a muster alarm went off, and the men and women behind him began to rush out into the yard and stoof in formation.

Colonel Obrin began to inspect the men, and marched up and down, eyeing the troops fiercely. He couldn't just come out and say, "Somebody stole my mustache," but someone was going to pay for this.

Finally, he came up to Corporal Tracy, who, unbelievably, was wearing his mustache on the lad's upper lip. He glared at Tracy, and resisted the urge to pull out his sidearm and kill him on the spot.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with my mustache glued onto your face, Corporal?"

"I'm bucking for a promotion, sir," Tracy said. "I figure with this little beauty, all I have to do is eat myself to three hundred pounds and learn to insult everyone under my command, and I'll make Colonel in no time! Sir!"

Several people in earshot began to laugh, but a withering glare from the Colonel quickly stopped that insubordination. "Corporal, I'm busting you back to Private, and transferring you to the 82nd. We'll see how much they like your sense of humor over there," Obrin said.

"Aww," said Tracy. "I said I was bucking for a _promotion_ , sir. I was only leading by your example."

"You shut your mouth right now, Private, or I'll have you thrown in the Brig as well." He turned to face the assembled men. "All liberty is cancelled until our next deployment thanks your Private Tracy's little joke here. You can thank him appropriately at your convenience."

Tracy put on an insincere pout, then began to laugh as Obrin walked away. Several of the men behind him clapped him on the back; it was worth it. After the Colonel's tirade, it was absolutely worth it.

 **O-O-O**

After the war, when Mal and Zoe arrived at Camp 37 on Boros, Mal noticed a couple of familiar faces at a table in the mess hall and approached them.

"Well, as I live and breathe," said Sergeant Monty Omeris, "Sergeant Reynolds! And who is your friend here?"

"That's Zoe," said Tracy, who was sitting with Monty. "Corporal Alleyne, but we were ordered to call her by her first name."

"Monty," Mal asked, "what are you doing with my man Tracy here?"

"He's all that's left of my men from the 82nd," said Monty. "We got shipped here together. Never expected to see you again, Mal. Have a seat."

Mal and Zoe joined Monty and Tracy at their table, and all picked at their food for a moment. "Comandant says we're gonna be charge with war crimes. You believe that?" Monty asked.

"Never happen," said Zoe. "They can't afford to go through hundreds of thousands of trials and pay to imprison us for decades. The Alliance is still reeling from the financial cost of the war. They can't afford to spent billions punishing all of us."

"Let's hope you're right," Tracy said. "I don't wanna spend the rest of my life in a camp like this."

 **O-O-O**

It all became a blur, as Mal and Zoe told one story after another, recounting their days and nights with PFC Tracy Smith. Eventually, most of the crew and passengers wandered off, until it was just Zoe and Mal.

"He may not have been in our platoon at the end of the war," Mal said, "but he was the last of us. This is the end of an era." He stepped over to a cubby and pulled out the bottle of Jack Daniels, and poured two shots before returning the bottle to its hiding place and sitting back down at the table. "To absent friends," Mal said.

"To absent friends," Zoe agreed, and clinked glasses with him. "I'm gonna miss that rutting fool."

"So am I," Mal said sadly. "So am I."

 **(Author's Note: I always wondered both about the specifics of the "apple incident", and the "mustache incident" with Colonel Obrin, who avid readers will remember from Ficlet 1, "Balls and Bayonets". I hope you enjoyed my vision of both of them. Tracy only appeared in one episode, and was never mentioned before or since, but I referred to him or featured him, alive or dead, in five ficlets if you count tomorrow's, which is about his funeral. We're nearing the end of his arc, and I hope you've enjoyed that as well.)**

 **(Next Time: You Find Someone To Carry You - The crew of _Serenity_ return the body of Tracy Smith to his family, Shepherd Book performs the funeral ceremony before Mal and Zoe bury the body.)**


	55. You Find Someone To Carry You

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 55: You Find Someone To Carry You  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **My mom and dad, well, they deserve to know I died."  
-Tracy Smith - Firefly Episode 12: "The Message"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 12, "The Message".)**

 _Serenity_ came in for a landing outside of the Everest Settlement on St. Albans, and the people came out into the snowy weather to see what a ship was doing, dropping in at their settlement in the dead of night.

Mal and Zoe carried the coffin, Mal on one side, and Zoe on the other, with the rest of the crew gathered around as they approached the crowd. "We're looking for William and Roberta Smith," Mal called to the throng. A man and a woman stepped forward, along with four of their children.

They had all decided on a story beforehand; it wouldn't do to tell Tracy's family that Mal and Zoe had done the killing. It was apparent that there'd been some bloodshed; Wash had a bandage on his forehead where Tracy's bullet had grazed him.

"We're the Smiths," William said, looking down at the coffin with a gravitas that bespoke the knowledge that one of his children was inside.

Mal and Zoe set the box at his feet. "This is Tracy," Mal said. "I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds. I was one of Tracy's Sergeants during the war, and he sent me a message that he wanted me to return his body to you; he said you have a family plot, and he wanted you to know that he had died. I'm sorry."

The moment was devastating between them. "What happened to my son?" William asked.

"He was killed by some rogue Feds. They were after him because of a scheme he got himself mixed up in. He left a message you might want to hear," Mal replied.

Kaylee stepped forward and pressed the voice recorder into William's hands. "I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know Tracy long, but he was a good person. He always meant well."

"That's my son," William said. "He always meant well, but he made poor choices. I can't say that I'm surprised that he comes home to us in this condition."

William nodded, and pushed the play button on the recorder, listening to the message as Jayne took off the hat that his mother had knitted him. Mal unlatched the coffin and exposed Tracy's body so that his family and the townsfolk could see.

When the message was over, William gestured to the bullet holes in his son's chest. "Looks like he's been drilled," he said.

"Yes, sir," Mal said. "Twice in the chest. He didn't have much of a chance after that, I'm afraid."

"Will you stay for the funeral?" William asked.

"We have a Shepherd on board. If you'd like, he can handle the service," Mal replied.

"Yes, please," Roberta said. "We'd like that very much."

 **O-O-O**

The following afternoon, in the blinding snow, Zoe, Mal, William, and William's son Ben dug the grave for Tracy at the Smith family plot, where five generations of Smiths lay interred. They waited until the townsfolk gathered, and as the sun set, Shepherd Book began his service.

"I didn't know Tracy Smith for long," Book began, "but I do know that he was a man of exceptional bravery, a hero, and one of the few survivors of the Unification War on the side of the Independents. He'd gone on to say that he could never get his life working right after the war, that the purpose he'd had in military life escaped him in peacetime, and that is the true tragedy of his story. I'm sure many of you have spoken of him since his arrival on St, Alban's last night, and talked of the shady dealings he was involved in, the kind of schemes that ultimately got him killed. What you don't know was that he engaged in such for two simple reasons. First and foremost, he wanted to accomplish in life only what he achieved in death: to get home. But ultimately, what killed him was his desire to help his family. He wanted nothing more than to move them from the snows and ice of St. Albans and to a warmer world where they could thrive. Sadly, he failed, and paid for his attempt with his life at the hands of the corrupt and the evil."

Book cleared his throat. "We can pity Tracy Smith, but we will not dismiss him, or forget him, or forget the love he held for his family, having sacrificed everything he had for their welfare. Let us bow our heads in prayer."

Those there assembled lowered their heads and closed their eyes.

"Lord, we implore thee to take the soul of Tracy Smith into your compassionate arms, and grant him, in death, the peace that so eluded him in life. May he have a better life, by your grace and the promise of salvation, than he ever had in the world of the living. May you bless his family, that he fought so hard to protect and provide for, and grant them peace and solace in their time of grieving. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray. Amen."

"Amen," said the assembled crowd in unison. Roberta began to cry, softly, and William placed a reassuring arm around her shoulder.

What followed was a steady procession of men and women, who took to the podium to speak of the times and trials of Tracy Smith; the jokes, the good times, the bad times, his hopes and dreams, and above all, his love. His family spoke highly of him, as did his neighbors and friends. Mal and Zoe both spoke of his exploits in the war, and told all the tales they knew of him. The service took over four hours, a testament to the life of a young man who had touched so many. In the end, Zoe, Mal, William and Ben lowered Tracy's coffin into the grave.

Finally, the crowd disbursed, and Mal asked William if he and Zoe could do the honor of filling in the open grave; William nodded, and headed off towards their home with his wife and children.

While Mal and Zoe worked, Zoe asked, "What do you think would have happened if they'd found out that we'd killed him?"

Mal dumped another shovelful of dirt into the grave. "Then I think they'd be digging graves for us, as well."

"Sounds about right," said Zoe. "You did what you had to do, sir. Don't let it tear at you so," she offered.

"I don't," Mal said. "He almost killed Wash, and threatened to kill Kaylee. He had to die."

"Agreed, sir," Zoe said. "Your crew comes first; they have to."

"Perhaps if we'd told him we had a plan, he'd still be alive," Mal countered.

"You heard him, sir. He was going to kill the Preacher if he didn't shut his mouth; he was running scared and wouldn't listen to any of us."

"I suppose," Mal said, and the conversation petered out.

Two hours later, their task completed, Zoe and Mal made their way back to _Serenity._ Mal got onto the intercom and spoke to the Bridge. "Wash, take us out of the world."

And with that, the ship was headed out of atmo and back on course for its original destination.

 **O-O-O**

As _Serenity_ took off, a Grasshopper-class stealth ship took off from the woods outside of the settlement and stayed a respectable distance behind its target. In the cockpit, Jubal Early sipped a cup of coffee and watched his tactical readout as he followed the ship, as he had been following it for nearly a month now since it had left Ariel. His maser-microphone bounced off of one of the windows on the Bridge as he gained distance above it, and the auditory pick-ups reported back a conversation between the pilot and his wife. He adjusted the directional controls and bounced a beam of the windows above what would ordinarily be the galley on an aught-three Firefly.

"River, are you hungry?" Early heard over the speakers in the cockpit.

"The man is listening to us. He hears everything we say," said a girl's voice. The voice he had a sample of in his bounty dossier. Early smiled. At long last, he had confirmation that both Simon and River Tam were aboard the ship. He just needed to wait for the right moment to make his move, which would have to be relatively soon, because if he needed to stop at a fuel station, he ran the risk of losing his bounty.

Early pulled back behind _Serenity_ , almost to the point where it was out of visual range, and followed at a discreet distance.

A week, two at most, and two hundred thousand credits would be his. Early smiled again. This was going to be beyond easy.

 **(Author's Note: Like Episode 3, "Bushwhacked", I have no particular love for Episode 12, "The Message". I find them both lacking in humor and the banter or whimsy that make the other episodes such a joy to watch. There is an experience I would like to share with you, however, that makes "The Message" somewhat important to me, however. About a year ago, I suddenly lost all feeling and the use of my feet from the ankles down, and could only walk with a cane or a walker. I was unable to get up from a seated position without assistance, which was no small feat, given my size, and I couldn't even bathe or dress myself. Going out and getting down my stairs was a forty-five minute ordeal, and at the beginning, we all believed the problem to be Multiple Sclerosis. In the end, it turned out to not only be a temporary condition, as I was fully recovered some six months later, but it had been caused by an allegic reaction to an antibiotic called Levaquin, or Levofloxacin, which is part of an extremely dangerous class of antibiotics called "fluoroquinolones", of which drugs like Cipro and Floxin are a part of, as are any drugs that end in "-floxacin". They can cause permanent nerve damage, and have a variety of potentially permanent side effects, including complete paralysis and psychosis, so I would ask that you avoid taking them if at all possible, as there have been tens of thousands of cases of paralysis and nerve damage, and even several hundred fatalities. Anyway, I was sitting on my toilet, which had become an hour-long affair due to my inability to get up without help, and smoking a cigarette while watching "The Message" on my phone, which was propped up on a stand. When Tracy Smith lay dying, he recounted to Mal and Zoe the old adage that when you can't run, you crawl, and when you can't do that… Well, without the aid of a sport walker or a cane, all I could do was crawl; sometimes I needed someone to carry me, as it were. As I thought of the predicament I was in, and the burden it was placing on my family, and my fiancée in particular, I burst into tears, weeping for the man's death, as well as out of the despair I felt at my inability to walk or move around. In that moment, The Message found a lasting resonance in me, and ever since, that scene has brought a tear to my eye. I am now long recovered from my ordeal, which has become a regrettable period in my life, and a relief that it was only temporary, but the resonance I felt when watching Tracy Smith die lives on. Thanks for reading. –Gamera Obscura)**

 **(Next Time: Chari - There is a traitor amongst the whores of the Heart of Gold.)**


	56. Chari

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 56: Chari  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Earned yourself quite a bag of silver, little kitten, but I have a few more chores in mind before you get it."  
-Rance Burgess - Episode 13: "Heart of Gold"**

 **(The following takes place before and during Episode 13, "Heart of Gold".)**

Chari Marseilles, one of the many whores at the Heart of Gold, walked through the town in her bustier and dress, then past it and on toward Rance Burgess's estate, which was by far the largest house in the entire valley. She stepped up to the door and rang the doorbell.

One of the servants answered, and ushered her inside. Rance's wife Chola eyed her from the drawing room and called out, "Rance, another one of your whores is darkening our doorstep!" Chari closed her eyes and tried her best to hide her disdain for Rance's wife, and apparently the feeling was mutual.

Rance stepped into the foyer, then took her by the arm and led her into his office. "No one saw you coming?"

"No," Chari said. "It's my night off, and I told the others I was going into town to window shop."

"Good. Then what do you have for me?" Rance asked.

"Petaline is still at the Heart of Gold," Chari said, "but they intend to hide her from you; they're expecting you to come, and come in force. They've prepared a hiding place in a closet behind a wardrobe in the red room. When you arrive, she'll be in the back of the closet, behind the clothes."

"Nandi thinks she can fool me with a trick like that?" Rance asked.

"Apparently so," Chari said.

"So much the better. I can't wait to see the look on her face when my men drag her out of her hiding place and out into the dirt yard of that flop she calls a House," Burgess said. "We'll be coming tomorrow at high sun."

"I'll be ready if you need me to do anything," Chari told him.

"That won't be necessary. I still need you there, your allegiance unknown to Nandi, in case anything comes up." Rance opened a safe next to his desk and pulled out a cloth sack, which he handed over to Chari. "You've done well for me, and I always reward my allies."

"Thank you, sir," Chari said, taking the sack, which contained more platinum than she could make at the House in a month.

"If there's nothing else, then be about your business," Rance said. "Make sure you do your window shopping before you go back to your bed in that whorehouse."

"Yes, sir," Chari said, and turned to go.

 **O-O-O**

The next day, the House was abuzz as people cried out their alarms while Nandi took up a defiant position in front of the House, as Rance Burgess and his men came, he in his hovercraft and they on horseback, and while he and Nandi bickered, the whore's madam claiming Petaline had fled the moon, his men searched the House, looking for the red room. Her face soured as she heard Petaline's scream, much too soon for it to be an accident, and the young woman was dragged out into the yard by two men and forced to kneel. Rance jammed a needle into her considerable belly and withdrew a sample of the baby's DNA.

Rance warned Petaline, who was crying, that if the DNA was a match for his, that he would be back for his baby. "And if I have to, I'll cut it outta ya."

The men left, and Chari did her best to appear concerned for her "friend", but she was first and foremost a whore, and that meant that money was king, and she would do whatever she needed to do to keep Rance Burgess paying her, regardless of what it meant to Nandi, and to her friends.

 **O-O-O**

Two nights later, after Nandi's help came in the form of the crew of the transport _Serenity_ and her crew, Chari snuck out and went to town on foot, and found that Rance Burgess was leading a mob in preparation to attack the Heart of Gold the next morning. She joined him on the balcony and reported that Nandi had hired a trio of mercenaries, and that they were training the girls for a battle.

Rance joked to his men. "Seems the Heart of Gold's got itself a few mercenaries; guess we best call the whole thing off!" The men laughed. It was going to be a slaughter, but if Chari played it right, she would be spared, and if she was lucky, she could end up in charge of the whorehouse, and rebuild it in her image.

"Earned yourself quite a bag of silver, little kitten. But I've got a few more chores in mind before you get it," Rance said to her.

"I'm ready," she told him.

"Now Chari here," yelled Rance out to the crowd below, "she knows a whore's place, don't she? But Nandi and those others, they spit on our town. They've no respect for the sanctity of fatherhood, or decency, or family. They have my child held hostage to their decadent ways, and that I will not abide. We will show them what power is! We will show them what their position in this town is! Let us all remember, right here and now, what a woman is to a man!"

He wheeled on Chari and growled, "Get on your knees."

Chari was shocked, but she knew how much money this situation was worth to her, and if she defied Rance Burgess now, it was all over. She grit her teeth and got down on her knees, like he had said. A great cacophony of whooping cries went up from the throng down below. She wanted to cry at her mistake. She had sold her soul to the devil, for good or ill, but she was in too deep to back out now. She had to see this through to the end. Worst of all, if Nandi's people won, or took prisoners, now that everyone knew who Rance's informant was, she might be implicated and could end up expelled, or worse, executed. Nandi had been known to kill people before, but to her knowledge, that had only been men, at least so far.

 **O-O-O**

The next morning, no less than thirty men rode on the Heart of Gold, with Rance Burgess and his hovercraft riding point. He had a man with a full-on machine gun anchored to the back, and once the gun was within range, it opened fire on all the windows. Chari and Betty dropped to the ground in their position down the balcony hall from Captain Reynolds and Nandi, with Michael down at the far end, and everyone just narrowly avoided being drilled as glass shattered and sprinkled all over them. Chari kept a close eye on Nandi and Captain Reynolds once their sniper had taken out the gunman and the House opened fire on the men. She then left the line and headed downstairs to wait for Rance's agreed upon signal.

Less than ten minutes later it came, his secret knock. Shave and a haircut, two bits. She unlocked the door and let him in; everyone was on the upper level, so there was no one to notice her letting their top target into the house. He drew his laser, and for a second she thought for sure he was going to shoot her with it. "Petaline's in her room, with a doctor and a few others. She's still in labor; has been since last night."

"Well done, kitten," Rance said. "You'll get at least twenty times our regular rate when this is all done, just come to my house for it when you're ready." And with that, he headed up the stairs towards Petaline's room. Chari returned to her point on the line and took up a rifle; Betty had been shot, and must have been dragged off to the back, because she was no longer there.

A few minutes later, she heard a cry from the rear of the house; Rance must have taken possession of his child. Nandi ran off the line, and once Reynolds noticed she was gone, he took off running, too. Not long after, she could see Rance taking off down below, in the yard, his hovercraft speeding away, the child nowhere to be seen, and then, not far behind, Reynolds charged one man on horseback, shot him, and shoved him off his horse before giving chase. Rance's men had thinned out considerably. There were over a dozen bodies, and some of the men must have run off. There were six men left.

"Drop your weapons!" cried a man's voice. The remaining men kept shooting at the House.

There was a booming rifle shot, and one man went down off his horse, his head at a funny angle.

"Drop your weapons, I said!" the man shouted again, and the men threw their rifles and pistols to the ground.

"Off your horses and head for the House with your hands up!" the booming man's voice came again.

Christine ran up. "Nandi's dead," she told Chari, who faked concern, but this was bad. Rance had lost this time. Perhaps this wouldn't work out too bad, though; Rance would try again, which meant more money for her. Now, if the other men didn't tell tales…

The men continued toward the House, their hands up. A dark skinned man and woman ran up to them and began tying their hands behind their backs. The woman, she recognized, was the first officer of the ship. The man was the Shepherd.

"Everyone come out!" shouted the woman, and Chari made her way down the stairs with the others, and stepped outside as the men, all tied up now, were being forced to their knees.

Reynolds had reappeared with Rance Burgess in tow, and forced him to his knees as well, the Companion tying his hands behind his back. "Petaline! You come out right now," he yelled. "I wanna see my son!"

Petaline, her belly not completely sprung back from her pregnancy, was partly showing as she approached Rance, baby in her arms. "Rance, this is Jonah," she said.

Rance, who was bleeding from a small cut at the base of his throad, smiled at the appearance of his child. "Jonah," Petaline said, "say 'hi' to your daddy." At that moment, both Chari and Rance noticed the gold-plated revolver in Petaline's other hand, which she raised to Rance's forehead, and pulled the trigger.

"Say goodbye to your daddy, Jonah," Petaline said flatly. She then addressed the men. "Go! Go on home!" They all stood up and started to wander toward town.

"You go with them," Petaline said, wheeling on Chari and pointing the revolver at her. Chari swallowed, hard. She had been found out after all, and she didn't even have the opportunity to grab the money she had stashed in her room. Rance was dead, and that meant his promise to her probably died with him. She walked with the men, untying them as they all walked back to town together.

With nothing but the clothes on her back, Chari approached the Burgess estate and rang the doorbell. A servant once again ushered her inside and explained that the master wasn't home. Chari told him that she knew that, and that she was here to see Chola.

The woman came to the foyer eventually, after making Chari wait almost fifteen minutes. "What do you want?" she imperiously asked the whore.

"I wanted to tell you that your husband is dead. Petaline killed him, Mrs. Burgess, and I'm so sorry. But your husband promised me two thousand in platinum before he died, and I'm hoping you'll take pity on me, because I lost my position, all my money, and everything I had at the House exceptin' the clothes on my back, all because I helped him."

Chola was as emotionless about her husband as he always claimed she was. "My husband pays for whores," she said. "I don't. Now get out, and don't ever come back. If I see you again, I'll kill you. You have five seconds to get out before I shoot."

For the second time that morning, Chari faced down the barrel of a gun as Chola Burgess counted. "One, two, three…"

Chari ran out the door, and, utterly defeated, headed back to town. She had lost everything, hadn't a friend in the world. There was only one thing she knew how to do, and at the very least, she knew she could do that well. With nothing to her name, she stood at a lamp post out on the street corner in front of the tavern, and accosted men as they left the establishment.

"Hey, honey, you looking for a date?"

 **(Author's Note: This ficlet, like the one that follows it, springs from questions posed by my mother as we watched the series together approximately a year ago. One of the first things she asked me after watching this episode was, "How did they know that girl was the traitor?" The answers were obvious to me, and probably were to anyone who watched the episode carefully, as every man taken prisoner probably knew that Chari was working with Burgess, despite her desire to stay out of sight as she spoke to him on the balcony, up until he named her, anyway. After that, the cat was out of the bag. The other question she asked me was, "What happened to the three men trapped in the hallway on the ship?" We'll be getting to that question tomorrow. This episode, Episode 13, "Heart of Gold", is by far my favorite in the series. It has it all, injustice, betrayal, a love scene, Inara losing her cool over Mal sleeping with another woman, Jayne whoremongering, justice finally being served, Wash shooting his gun to save Kaylee, and finally, Inara announcing she's leaving. What's not to love? I wish I had more questions to answer about this episode, so I would have more excuses for further deleted scenes, but I just don't. Sorry. Mea Culpa. I hope you do enjoy what I've created for it, though.)**

 **(Next Time: Nobody's Going Anywhere - After Wash and Kaylee lock a trio of gunmen in the corridor between the galley and the engine room, it's up to the fighters of the ship to get them out.)**


	57. Nobody's Going Anywhere

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 57: Nobody's Going Anywhere  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Got you, you** _ **niao shi de dugui!**_ **"  
-Hoban Washburne - Episode 13: "Heart of Gold"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 13, "Heart of Gold".)**

Mal, Zoe, Jayne, and Book watched the men walk away from the Heart of Gold, followed by Chari, who had been banished for her betrayal. Without warning, Kaylee's voice came over the comm in his ear. "Cap? Cap? Everything all done over there?"

Mal was relieved to hear her voice, but at the same time was fearful of what might be taking place aboard his ship, given the fact that it hadn't shown up during the fight to serve as a distraction as he had planned. "Yeah, little Kaylee. What's going on over there? We missed you at the party."

"We've got a problem over here, Cap. We need you, Zoe, and Jayne as fast as you can."

"How's Wash?" asked Zoe over her earpiece. "Is everything alright?"

"He's fine," said Kaylee. "He's trapped in the engine room, though. We've got a trio of men with assault rifles locked in the corridor between the engine room and the galley. They're locked in, but they're getting mighty ornery in there. I'm afraid to even look in the window for fear they'll try and shoot through the glass at me."

"Shiny," said Mal. "We're on our way. Zoe, Jayne, let's go." They stepped over Rance Burgess' body on the way back to the ship, which took them nearly a half an hour's walk.

Once inside, Kaylee met them in the cargo bay. "He saved me," she said to Mal and Zoe. "Wash saved me with his pistol. He drew their fire and let me get out of here, then he told me to hide in the galley, behind a lounger. Then, he got their attention from the corridor and they shot at him. He closed the door to the engine room and locked it, then, while they were trying to force the door, I locked them in from this side. They have pistols and assault rifles, all of them.

By this point, they were on the upper deck and headed for the Galley. When they arrived, Mal and Zoe took up positions on either side of the door, while Kaylee hid off to the side, and Jayne aimed Vera at the door's glass. "I don't see them, Mal. I think they're sitting down."

Mal turned and looked, and sure enough, the three men were seated in the corridor, waiting and unsure of what to do.

"I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds, and this is my ship," he yelled through the door.

"Let us out of here!" called a man, obviously the leader of the trio.

"Rance Burgess is dead," Mal said. "You won't be getting paid for your little excursion aboard this ship," he said. "I am prepared to let you go your way, if you give up your weapons."

"No deals," yelled the man. "You open the door and let us go!"

"You give up your weapons," Mal said, "or we'll cut the air to the corridor and watch you turn blue."

"Then we'll shoot out the windows," the man called.

"The windows are bulletproof," Mal lied, "and even if they weren't, we'd just roll in some gas grenades, and then shoot you while you cough your guts out."

The man was beaten, and he knew it. "What do you want us to do?" he asked.

Mal got on the comm to the engine room. "Wash, we're gonna have you out of there, soon. I'm gonna try to get them to lay their weapons down in a pile at your end of the corridor, then come this way. You take the guns, then close and lock the bulkhead again."

"Roger that, Mal," said Wash.

"Okay," Mal yelled. "I want you to take off your belts, and leave them, and all your weapons in a pile at the far end of the corridor. Then you come and stand at this end where we can see you with your hands in the air, and let my man in the engine room take your guns. When that's done, we'll open this door, and walk you out of here. Agreed?"

"How do we know you won't shoot us the moment we're disarmed?" the man called through the door.

"You have my word as Captain, and I'm a man of my word. There were five survivors of the attack, of those that didn't run off, and we let them go once they gave up. We have no interest in killin' unarmed men."

The man sighed, his huff audible even through the door. There was some murmuring as the man talked to his compatriots. Then, they all stood up and took off their belts and holsters, and piled their weapons against the far bulkhead of the corridor. "Be ready; they may try to pull something. And even if they don't, be on guard, Jayne; one of them may have a holdout weapon and try to use it against us."

"Got it, Mal," Jayne said.

The last of the weapons was piled, and the men walked slowly to the near end of the corridor. "Okay, Wash," said Mal into the comm. "Open the door and quickly get those weapons into the engine room. If I call out to stop, you close and lock that door right away.

"Understood," said Wash through the comm.

As Mal watched, Wash opened the door and began piling the weapons on his side of the bulkhead. To the Captain's relief, no one tried to make a break for it or draw a weapon. At last, Wash closed and locked the door again.

"Remember to watch for sudden moves," Mal said to Zoe and Jayne. "Okay," he yelled, "we're going to open the bulkhead and let you out."

Mal slide the doors apart, and Zoe and Jayne trained their weapons on the three men. "Step out here," Mal said.

The men complied, and came into the galley. "Rance Burgess is really dead?" one of them asked.

"That's right," Mal replied.

" _Gorramit,_ the man said. "That means we ain't gettin' paid for this job, and I ain't got enough money to pay for a new gun, even. I really needed this job."

Mal sighed. "Okay," he said. "I ain't got no malice against nobody who's just trying to do a job. I'll have my man here take out all your ammo, if you let us search you for more, and we'll give you back your weapons once they're emptied. Will that help?"

The man who had complained about losing his weapons looked as though he wanted to cry. "You're far more merciful than I woulda been," he said. "You're a man of honor. I know it comes as small consolation, especially after we tried to kill your people, but thank you."

Mal gave a tight-lipped smile. "Zoe, frisk each of these men for additional weapons or ammo. Jayne, get into the engine room and empty their weapons, then bring them back and give them back to them."

Jayne rolled his eyes. "We're gonna give them back their weapons after they tried to kill Wash and Kaylee?" Jayne asked. "You gotta be ruttin' kidding me."

"Yes, Jayne, that's exactly what we're going to do. They're mercenaries, just like we are, and they need their guns if they're to make a living, I reckon."

Jayne and Zoe did what they were told, as Mal held his pistol aimed at the three men. Zoe found nothing; they had kept their word to Mal, and a few minutes later, Jayne came walking back with an armful of weapons, which he placed on the dining table.

"Get your guns," Mal said, and the men did so, slinging their rifles over their shoulders and holstering their pistols once they had put their belts back on.

"Now, it's time you left my ship," Mal said. "Let's move."

The men filed out of the galley and into the corridor to the cargo bay, then down the steps and down the ramp. Wash and Kaylee followed a discreet distance behind, Wash's Norinco _Long_ .357 holstered at his side.

The three men turned at the bottom of the ramp, Mal and Zoe close behind them, and Jayne bringing up the rear, Vera at the ready. "Thank you again for your mercy, Captain Reynolds," the leader said. "As I said, you're a far sight more generous than any of us woulda been. Let me shake your hand."

Mal shook each of the men's hands in turn. "Perhaps in the future, you'll be more generous yourself. When the opportunity arises, remember this day, and our mercy. We could have just let you suffocate in that corridor and dumped your bodies off the ship when you were dead."

"That's true," said the leader. "We'll keep it in mind, sir." And with that, they turned to go.

As they walked away, Jayne turned to Kaylee and Wash. "You two need to come with us. We have some cleaning up to do. Nandi's dead."

Kaylee put a hand to her open mouth in shock. "How? She died in the battle?"

"She did, but not the way you think. There was a traitor in the Heart of Gold, and she let Rance Burgess into the House. He tried to steal the baby, but Inara stopped him with a knife to the throat. Once the baby was safe, he broke free, and shot Nandi in the chest with that rutting laser pistol of his. Speaking of which, I have it now, and we're gonna sell it. Should be worth at least five hundred platinum on the black market. We're gonna make out real good on this deal, even with Jayne's whoremongering."

"If we take his hovercar," Kaylee said, "I could soup it up a little and I'll bet we could get at least another thousand for that.

"It's west of the House," Mal said, "crashed about a half a mile off. If you go find it and bring it back, I'd be real grateful, little Kaylee."

"You got it, sir," Kaylee said. They all set off toward the House with those words.

"Doc's got his hands full with at least a half a dozen bullet wounds," Mal said. "I suppose that means I'm gonna have to buy the Doctor and his sister something nice for their help on this job."

"It's so hard being you, isn't it, sir?" Zoe asked as they walked.

It was going to be a long day, and tomorrow would be even worse. Once the Doctor had patched everyone up, they had a funeral to plan, a funeral where Mal would mourn more than even he expected to.

But even as the Doctor tended to the wounded, and the Shepherd tended to the dead, a new life was worming its way into the hearts of the women and men of the Heart of Gold, and it was already apparent that the steel inside of Petaline, who was fierce enough to protect her child through the murder of Rance Burgess in cold blood, had made her the new leader of the House. They would be alright. Yes, now with Rance Burgess gone, they would all finally be alright.

 **(Author's Note: As I said before, Episode 13, "Heart of Gold" is my favorite episode of the entire series, and I hope I did it justice in this and the previous ficlet. One of the first questions my mother asked me about the episode was, "What happened to the men trapped on the ship?" and it was this question, and my answer to it, that was the first nugget of thought that eventually gave birth to this series of ficlets. I had already published my first fanfiction, and I began to seriously think about writing a story or even a series of them, to answer the questions left unanswered by the series. As we rapidly draw the era of Firefly to a close, I have answered dozens of those questions, and more, with my stories. Soon we will enter the nebulous era, that waste between the worlds, that is the period between the series and the movie. There are several unproduced ideas that were expressed by Joss Whedon about things he wanted to do with the series, had it continued, and I intend to at least attempt to do them justice, if I can. Beyond that lies the film, and that will be the hardest part of this series. Before the Firefly era, I had a blank slate, and could do anything I wanted. When Firefly came around in the series, I had to "color inside the lines" as it were, and work around or in between the episodes. But the film is another matter, because it spends so much of its time wrapping up loose threads. How do I improve upon that? What stories will I tell? I know I will be doing a ficlet called "The Shepherd's Tale", in homage to the graphic novel of the same name that tells the backstory of Shepherd Derrial Book, but beyond that I have no ideas. Perhaps if you have a story from the film that you'd like to see, you can suggest it now, while I still have time. I may actually need help with this part of the story, and while I have always appreciated my readers, I may actually need your assistance with this section.)**

 **(Next Time - Am I A Lion? - As bounty hunter Jubal Early invades _Serenity_ , River suits up and escapes the ship, then hatches a plot to get the intruder out without anyone getting hurt.)**


	58. Am I A Lion?

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 58: Am I A Lion?  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I don't think of myself as a lion. Might as well, though; I have a mighty roar."  
-Jubal Early - Episode 14: "Objects In Space"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 14, "Objects In Space".)**

River pretended to be asleep when her brother Simon checked in on her while on his way to bed. She could feel the man, the man who had been following them, the man who wanted to take her back, back to the Academy. He was close now, and would be coming tonight. As Simon closed the door to his dorm, she quietly slid hers open, and then closed it behind her, whisper quiet.

She stole away into the cargo bay and prepared a suit. The man, whose mind she could read clearly now, entered through the dorsal airlock. As she placed the helmet onto her head and activated the air, she felt the Captain's mind wink out; he wasn't dead, there wasn't enough pain for that, and she could sense his dreaming, but he was out cold, and at the bottom of the ladder to his bunk. Then the man – Jubal Early, bounty hunter – locked everyone but Kaylee, Shepherd Book, Kaylee, and her into their rooms.

As Early made his way into the engine room to deal with Kaylee, River climbed the stairs to the upper deck and climbed up into the dorsal airlock herself. She had a plan, but it would take all her skill with _Serenity's_ systems to make it happen. Early was a killer, but he wouldn't kill unless he was sufficiently provoked or felt threatened enough. She just hoped that Kaylee wouldn't put up a fight, or else her plan would not be possible.

She worked the controls to vent the atmosphere from the airlock, then opened the hatch and climbed out, careful to place one magnetic boot onto the hull, then the other, before closing the hatch. As she walked towards the aft of the ship, she could see Early's ship, a Grasshopper class, flying in formation with _Serenity_. It was a much smaller ship than the Firefly, but it was also much nicer, and far more modern, having been built less than five years ago, and must have cost a fortune. She stood as close as she could get to the ship and looked up. She couldn't walk any further aft due to the spinning ring of the accelerator bulb on the rear of the ship, whose glowing panels gave the Firefly its distinctive look and name. She had had zero-gravity training in the Academy, but this was her first actual transfer between ships, and only her second true EVA.

She would have to be extremely careful doing this, or she would end up forever lost in the wastes of space. She did the math, as Kaylee had put it earlier in the evening, and bent at the knees before jumping. The magnets on her boots disengaged and sent her "upward" – there being no up or down in space – and towards the Grasshopper without sending her into a spin. Ten seconds later, she grasped the handles around the dorsal hatch of the ship, then worked the controls to open it.

She climbed inside, and then closed the hatch behind her, then pressurized the cockpit before removing her helmet and turning off the air supply in the suit.

The controls of the ship were holographic, far superior to her home's. She worked the controls and hacked into _Serenity's_ systems. She found that she could not remotely work the locks on the bunks, as she suspected she would not, but she had granular control of the comm system. Kaylee was tied up and terrified, but unharmed. That was good. Very very good. She just needed to wait for the Captain to wake up, but until then, she had to play for time. She turned on the pickups in the cargo bay, and listened as her brother spoke. "Come out, River. Nice man wants to kidnap you…"

"Shhhh!" hissed Early. She looked around the cockpit and saw a picture of Early's mother, and a large golden retriever. She probed his mind, and saw for the first time what kind of man he truly was. He was vicious, violent, bordering on insane in his dealings, but he was very, very calculating. Now they were in Shuttle 2, and from there they would check in on Inara. After that, Early planned to go to the Bridge. She would make her stand there.

Her mouth dropped open as she saw him torture a cat, his neighbor's pet, when he was but twelve years old. She closed her eyes and tried not to cry out at the memory. She didn't want these memories, but she needed to know about him, so they kept flooding her consciousness.

River thought of her brother; she could sense in his mind that he was afraid, just as afraid as he had been when he held her as she was tied to a post and about to be set on fire by the hill people of Jianying. He was afraid for his safety, and the safety of the crew, but most of all, he was terrified that Early would find her, and take her from him, never to be seen again. That fear could make him do something stupid, something that could get him killed. She would have to be careful, and have faith that her brother would have enough faith in her not to interfere with her plane. What other choice did she have?

She was angry at this invasion of her home. But even as her desire for vengeance raged, she also thought of how things were going to be changing soon. Inara was leaving. So far, only the Captain knew, or so they thought, but Inara's and Mal's thoughts couldn't be kept from her gift. And more than that, Shepherd Book had been struggling ever since taking up arms against Niska's men, when he had killed no less than six people, something he had taken an oath he would never do again. In time, it was likely he would leave as well. He was just looking for an appropriate port of harbor where he could make a difference, then off he'd go.

She didn't want things to change, but as her parents had told her when she was little, life was change. Living at the Academy had been proof enough of that. But she had found safety and a home on _Serenity_ , and didn't want any of her new family to go away. Perhaps Mal would take a stand and tell Inara how he felt, or at least ask her not to go. She would definitely stay if he did that, but did he have the courage? As for the Shepherd, she didn't believe that there was anything she or anyone else could say or do to keep him aboard.

That would leave Kaylee, her friend, Mal, who was like a father to her, her brother, Wash, who was like a crazy uncle, Jayne, who was positively beastly to her and her brother, and had even tried to sell her to the Alliance, and Zoe.

Yes, then there was Zoe. Zoe scared her in ways no one else on the ship could. Perhaps it was the fact that she would kill River without a second thought if Mal ordered her to. Never ask why, never regret. Zoe terrified River, right down to her core. Only the Hands of Blue scared her more, or the Academy.

Finally, Early and her brother were on the Bridge. She activated the pickups and listened in. It was time to make her presence known, and to begin to weave her little web in which to ensnare the bounty hunter.

"Okay, that's all the hide and seek I got time for," Early said as River listened. "I know you're on this ship, little girl. So here's how this goes: you show yourself and finish this exchange, or your brother's brains'll be flyin' every which-a-way." He then paused, then spoke to Simon. "You understand, I'm sort of on the clock here. It's frustrating."

River activated the microphone and spoke. "You're wrong, Early." She tried not to laugh at the irony of speaking to him from his ship, of his turning the entire Firefly upside down looking for her when she literally could not be found there. She could sense the Captain stirring. That was good. She would be able to talk to him, soon. That meant talking to Kaylee first. She checked the interface for the lighting controls and discovered she could black out the entire ship if she had to, or she could turn off a single bulb anywhere aboard.

"I'm not wrong, dumpling," Early said over the comm. "I will shoot your brother dead if you don't-"

"Wrong about River," she said. "River's not on the ship." That much was true, at least. "They didn't want her here, but she couldn't make herself leave, so she melted. Melted away. They didn't know she could do that, but she did."

She could feel Mal listening to her as her voice echoed through the entire ship. Wash and Zoe were waking up, too, and she made she everyone could hear both sides of the conversation.

"I'm not sure I take your meaning there," Early said.

"I'm not on the ship," River said. "I'm in the ship. I am the ship."

"River," Simon began.

"River's gone," she said.

"Then who exactly are we talking to?" Early asked.

"You're talking to _Serenity_ ," she said. "And Early, _Serenity_ is very unhappy."

She could feel confusion and a stab of fear in Early. So much the better. It would make what was to come so much easier for her. Wheels turned in her mind as her plot began to unfold.

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, One and Two made their way toward New Melbourne on the _I.A.V. Javert,_ hoping to pick up the trail of the ship in the event that Jubal Early failed. Their bounty hunters didn't know what River was capable of, but they did, and they were better prepared to deal with her in a direct confrontation than anyone else. The ship sped through the void, as its passengers prepared to take her into custody. It wouldn't do to tell The Man of their plans just yet, however, lest they get his hopes up, and be punished for their failure in the event that they could not get their hands on River again. They had gone on silent running, not even telling Three and Four or Five and Six where they were or what they were doing.

They sat in their joint quarters, memorizing and re-memorizing River's audible trigger phrases, in the event they would be needed once they found her. Three words could mean the difference between life and death for them, and they had to be ready.

 **(Author's Note: I hope you've enjoyed my assertion that River had been aware of Early for weeks, watching his every move as he tracked** _ **Serenity**_ **, and working out scenarios in her mind to deal with every contingency. Episode 14, "Objects in Space", despite being a bottle episode, and a bittersweet finale to the series, is still one of my favorites, even though I know of other people that outright despise it. It has a unique quality to it that makes it thoroughly enjoyable, and showcases both Simon and River exquisitely. Jubal Early is Joss Whedon's favorite supporting character in the series, and I have done the episode the honor of making three ficlets about this particular story. I hope you enjoy them all, and with it, the end of the Firefly era. I also hope you enjoyed the return of the Hands of Blue; yes, we will be seeing them again, in a story that wraps up their arc. I figured out what I ultimately wanted to do and say with them. Oh, and lastly, last night, while I lay sleeping, Firefly: Deleted Scenes quietly broke 10,000 hits! Thank you ALL so much for your overwhelming support and interest!)**

 **(Next Time: You Oughta Be Shot - When Simon takes a bullet to the left thigh courtesy of Jubal Early, it's up to Zoe to remove the bullet, with the Doctor's supervision.)**


	59. You Oughta Be Shot

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 59: You Oughta Be Shot  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **You oughta be shot. Or stabbed. Lose a leg. To be a surgeon, you know? Know what kind of pain you're dealing with. They make psychiatrists get psychoanalyzed before they can get certified, but they don't make a surgeon get cut on. That seem right to you?"  
-Jubal Early - Episode 14: "Objects In Space"**

 **(The following takes place during Episode 14, "Objects In Space".)**

 **(Author's Forward Note: Please be advised that Ficlet 60, "Well, Here I Am" has been published early, at 10PM Eastern Standard Time, April 21st, 2016, because it contains a special note about publication. Please read the note, and the chapter, a day early, with my compliments.)**

Jubal Early had told him he ought to be shot, and sure enough, Simon was now sporting a bullet in his leg. If he was lucky, the bullet would be in one piece; there was no exit wound, which meant the bullet had likely struck bone. The pain was incredible, and it only got worse as he struggled to get to his feet, favoring his left leg.

Kaylee appeared, with Book in tow, and unlocked the remaining bunks. Wash and Zoe climbed up the ladder just as the Captain, still suited up, appeared from around the corner. "Looks like I missed some of the action here," he said. "What happened?"

"I've been shot," Simon said. "In the left thigh. I'm not sure I'll be able to perform the surgery myself."

"Zoe has some battlefield medic experience," Wash offered.

"Then she's going to have to be my hands," Simon said. "Someone help me to the infirmary."

As Book and Wash moved to help Simon to the lower deck, River, also in a suit, rounded the corner with a scowl on her face. "You almost got yourself killed, Simon! Why didn't you just trust me?"

"You said you were going with him," Simon said helplessly. "I couldn't allow that to happen!"

"You know some of what they did to me at the Academy," she said plainly. "You should have trusted that I'd have a plan, and that I'd never, _ever_ go willingly back to that… place."

"I'll keep that in mind, next time," he said. "Besides, I don't want to get shot again."

A few minutes later, Simon was laying in the chair in the infirmary, after scrubbing his hands, and he instructed Zoe to open the autoclave. Once that was completed, he instructed her in a scrubbing procedure he called "open gloving", which she performed while he had Wash place a piece of sterile paper on the rolling metal tray, and then placed a piece of sterile blotting paper over the hole in his leg, with a hole down the middle to expose the wound. Then, at Simon's instruction, Wash pulled the wireless endoscope off of its charger on the wall and handed it on him.

"Wash, grab me a syringe of lidocaine from the second drawer on the left over there," Simon indicated a bank of cabinets with his head.

After milling around in the drawer, Wash returned with a syringe, which Simon used to numb the area. "That should take care of some of the pain, at least make it manageable enough to get the bullet out."

"Okay, I'm gloved," Zoe said, turning around with a pair of white latex gloves on her hands and a white surgical apron over her body. "What do I do next?"

"Take the implements out of the autoclave and place them on the paper on the rolling tray. She did, which took her a couple of minutes, as she took the implements out a pair at a time.

"There isn't a lot of blood," Simon said. "If we're lucky and the bullet didn't break up, both of those factors will greatly simplify the process." He scrubbed the area around the wound before sticking the tip of the endoscope inside of it tentatively; the lidocaine had already begun to take effect. Good.

"Pierced the _rectus femoris,_ and," he pushed the endoscope in deeper, wincing. "And damaged the _vastus lateralis_ as well. Zoe, grab a retractor and a pair of forceps."

Zoe picked up the implements from the table and held them in her gloved hands. Simon pulled the endoscope to one side. "Spread open the wound and get the forceps down inside the hole."

Zoe did as she was told, and Simon cried out a little. "This is going to _suck_. _Wo de ma!_ " He paused as he consulted the endoscope's screen on the wall. "I don't see any bleeds. That's very, very lucky."

"What do I do now?" Zoe asked.

"Okay, to the left… Your left," Simon said. "Okay, now very gently pull that aside."

"This is really not my area of expertise, Doctor. I tend to be putting these into people more than the other thing."

Wash pulled down a mask he had put on, and had a cloth in his hand. "Can I mop your brow? I am at the ready with the fearsome brow mopping."

"You got the bullet," Simon said, relieved.

Zoe grunted as she got the forceps around the slug, and pulled it out of his leg. It was intact, fortunately, as he had suspected, despite the fact that it had impacted the bone. Zoe dropped it into a steel tray on the table.

Wash mopped his wife's forehead. "Okay," Simon said. "I'm just gonna pass out for a minute, but you're doing great." Simon leaned back in the chair, resting the endoscope's battery in his lap, and closed his eyes for a couple of minutes. Finally, he opened them again.

"What do we do now?" Zoe asked when she saw he was back in the game.

"Now, you have to stitch me up," Simon said. "We have to do two stitches with monofiliament suture on the muscles, then one for the subcutaneous layer, and then one on the skin. Wash, could you get four monofilament sutures from the third drawer from the left, and two regular sutures? The regulars should be black, and the monofilaments should be clear."

"Got it," said Wash, and returned with nearly a half a dozen plastic packs, which he placed on the rolling table.

"Okay," said Simon as he unsealed one of the regular suture packs. "I'm going to show you how to do a simple interrupted stitch on the outside skin. You'll need to pay close attention, and then perform it on the muscles first." He removed the endoscope and poked the needle end into the skin of his leg, piercing the skin outside the wound, then sewed it shut with the stitch. "See? Have you got it?" he asked as he tied it off.

"I think so," Zoe said, unsure of herself.

"It's okay," Simon said. "I can walk you through it as we go. Now grab a pair of shears and cut the stitch, then remove it with the forceps."

Zoe did as she was told, cutting open the stitch and teasing out the pieces with the forceps.

Simon re-inserted the endoscope. "Now, we have to sew the _vastus lateralis_ shut first, to make sure the muscle grows back together as it heals. That's this layer I'm aiming at with the scope."

Zoe pulled the monofilament stitch out of the unsealed baggie her husband was holding open for her, and pierced the edge of the muscle that Simon was indicating. With the help of the endoscope, and by walking her through it, step by step, he had her complete the stitch in only about ten minutes. Not bad for a first try, especially given the fact that the edges and folds of the _rectus femoris_ kept getting in the way. "Shiny," he said. "That's very shiny, Zoe. Now we have to do the same with the _rectus femoris_."

He pulled the endoscope out a little further, and had her perform the same procedure on the second layer of muscle. It took her less than five minutes this time; she was clearly a very quick kinesthetic learner. "Excellent," he told her when she had tied the stitch off. "Now we just have the subcutaneous layer, and then the skin."

Zoe completed the subcutaneous stitch, with Simon instructing, in under four minutes, then tied it off. Finally, he had her use the regular, black stitch on the skin, and once that was tied off, he seemed to collapse. "Wash," he said, "bring me the pneumatic injector."

Wash stepped to the other side of the room again and returned with the requested equipment. "Now comes the best part," Simon said, and doped himself. "I can finally get some relief. Zoe, you were incredible. Truly outstanding. I could teach you more of this in the future, if you wanted to learn," he said.

"That's okay, Doctor," Zoe demurred. "I'd much rather drill people than try to save them."

Simon laughed, already feeling greatly at ease given his medicated state. "There's just one more thing to do," he said.

"What's that?" Zoe asked.

"First, you can take off your gloves and remove that gown," he said, and Zoe obeyed his directive. "Now, bring me a bottle marked "Isoprovalene" and an empty syringe."

Zoe stepped to the counter and located the bottle, then an empty syringe from one of the drawers. "What's this for?" she asked.

"It's an immunization booster," Simon said. "It'll eliminate the risk of infection and eventual septic shock." He filled the syringe from the vial, and then injected himself in the thigh with it. "And we're done," he said at last. Simon pulled off the paper surrounding his wound and crumpled it into a ball, tossing it into a waste canister. "Zoe, wash off the implements in the sink, then put everything back in the autoclave, seal it, and then turn it on."

As Zoe did as Simon instructed, Wash helped the Doctor to his feet. The three of them exited, running into the Captain outside the door of the infirmary; he had obviously been witnessing the entire affair from outside. "All better?" Mal asked.

"As good as I'm going to be for now," Simon said. "Zoe was perfect. I should be able to walk without a limp in a week or two."

"Good to know," Mal said. "You know, Doctor, when I said there was nobody to fix you if you got shot, I didn't realize that not only was I wrong, but that my theory would be tested this very night."

"Neither did I, Mal. Let's just hope that's the last time someone shoots me," Simon said with finality. "Once was quite enough."

Mal clapped Simon on the shoulder with a smirk. "Next time, don't get in your sister's way, and hopefully it won't happen again."

"I've learned my lesson on that account," Simon said with a weak smile.

 **(Author's Note: First of all, before I begin, I have to tell my dear readers that this chapter would not have come together, or had the medical authenticity that it has enjoyed had it not been for the invaluable assistance of Selective SciFi Junkie, one of my fans, and a Beta for all things medical. She had me Beta for her on a lovely fic I've mentioned before, a Firefly Fic that takes place at the end of the "Serenity" movie, called "Strange Bedfellows". If you haven't checked it out already, I strongly urge you to do so, as it is quite good and well worth reading. Now, on to my regular note: As the era of Firefly draws to a close, I am filled with mixed and conflicted feelings. While I still have the post-Firely, pre-BDM era to deal with, then the film, and then the epilogue, I feel that I am coming to the end of an era in my life. When I finish the series, I am sure I will feel the same, only much more so. On the one hand, this has been a joy to write, but on the other, I have to admit that I am quite burned out from the task of publishing every day. It's been a wild ride, one that has taken me over 125,000 words so far (and possibly as many as 160,000+ by the time I am finished), and garnered me over 10,000 hits in less than two months. Still, part of me is glad that I am in the home stretch, because quite honestly, I don't know how much more of this I can keep up, and writing these chapters, while still a joy, is becoming increasingly a chore, and disruptive to the daily flow of my life. Don't fret; I will keep up this pace until the bitter end (although I hope it won't be too bitter), but I am going to need to take a break from writing for a little while, then maybe change gears and write some one-shots in another fandom. I doubt I'll have any more Firefly left in me anytime soon, if ever. That's not a bad thing. I had something important I needed to say with this series, and so far, I've said it. This tale will stand as a testament to an exciting and fulfilling time in my life, when I challenged myself, and succeeded. No one can take that away from me. Or, in the Firefly parlance, "You can't take the sky from me".)**

 **(Next Time: Well, Here I Am - Jubal Early survives his walk in space and reports his failure to the Hands of Blue.)**


	60. Well, Here I Am

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 60: Well, Here I Am  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Any chance that** _ **xiongmeng de kuangren**_ **might survive?"  
-Inara Serra - Episode 14: "Objects In Space"**

 **(The following takes place just after Episode 14, "Objects In Space".)**

 **(Special Author's Forward Note: Please note that you should not pay attention to my story's place on the Browse feature of the Firely fandom, or the publication time or date to check for a new chapter. I publish a new chapter every morning when I first wake up, or if it is after 3am Eastern Standard time if I wake up during the night; a new chapter can be published anytime after 3AM EST, and is almost always up by 8AM EST at the absolute latest. If it is less than 24 hours since my last update, its position or time/date does not get updated, no matter how many times I republish the new chapter. I have learned this the hard way over the last few days. The first thing I do is update the chapter slated to be released with the full story, and then I publish the "Coming Soon" placeholder chapter for the story to be released 5 days hence. If you are following my story or have favorited me through the system, the notification of a new chapter is your hint that the new material is up, or will appear within the next 30 minutes, usually much sooner. I have been unable to update my position on the browse list, or my publication time until the evening today, and my hits are the lowest they've been all month so far tonight. Ignore the man behind the curtain. April 21st's story was published close to 6am Eastern Standard Time, regardless of what the frustrating website says. I am publishing this story early (approximately 10pm on Thursday, April 21st), so that everyone will have the maximum exposure to this note; publishing it tomorrow morning will not update my time stamp, so I am going to have to wait until the morning after to republish tomorrow's "Coming Soon". Surprise, if you're reading this on the 21st, you've stumbled on a chapter a day early. Enjoy. -Gamera Obscura)**

"Well, here I am," said bounty hunter Jubal Early as he tumbled over and over again slowly through the wastes of space. He had been bested by River Tam and the crew of _Serenity_. Still, all was not lost. He should be dead, having been stuck in this predicament, but he had a secret, one that River Tam had obviously not gleaned from his mind when she was tromping around inside of it.

He reached over with his left hand and pulled open a zipper on his right wrist, exposing a small screen. He tapped a few buttons on it, and reflected on his experience while he waited. The girl had messed with his mind. She had seen into his thoughts, that much was evident, as she had confronted him with things about his past that no one had ever seen, that no one else had ever known. He had secrets, many secrets, and she undoubtedly knew many of them, if not all of them. He shuddered at the violation. Those were _his_ secrets! They were the property of no one else, and now that little pile of _go-se_ had had the gall to reach inside his mind and steal them from him, to invade his privacy. Damn the bounty, if he had the opportunity to confront her again, he wished he could kill her. Of course, that would mean no money.

He looked carefully at the field of stars as he floated through space with less than an hour of oxygen in his slender tanks. He could see it now, a speck with a halo of light around it as he flipped over backwards in a perpetual reverse somersault. It was his ship, set to home in on his signal. It would get here in time, that much he was sure of. He might not be able to catch up to _Serenity_ , might lose them once they left New Melbourne again, but he could still collect a partial bounty for information leading to the arrest of Simon and River Tam, and he knew that the representatives from the Blue Sun Corporation were on their way to the quadrant. They hadn't told him about her psychic abilities, but he suspected they knew about them, and they would likely be better suited to apprehend her and Simon. For informational assistance only, half the bounty on both of them would be a hundred and twenty-five thousand credits, which was significantly less than the two hundred thousand he'd been hoping for, but it was still an incredibly high bounty, and one he could still collect.

In time, his ship arrived, and hovered over him as he tumbled. He reached out and on his second try, was able to grasp onto one of the handles of the ventral airlock hatch. He pushed a few buttons on the control panel, and the hatch swung open. He climbed inside and then closed the hatch, pressurizing the cockpit.

He removed his helmet and turned off his air, setting the tanks to recharge, then set a course for New Melbourne. He then dialed the hailing number he had been given when he took this commission.

"This is the _I.A.V. Javert,_ " said the communications officer he had reached. So, they had changed ships.

"This is Jubal Early. I am looking for One and Two of the Blue Sun," he said. "Are they still aboard your ship?"

"Yes, sir, they are. Please wait a moment while I patch you through," said the officer. There was a pause of approximately five minutes, then a familiar voice.

"This is One," said The Man at the other end. They were too far away for vid.

"Sir, this is bounty hunter Jubal Early. I am unfortunately forced to report that I was unsuccessful in apprehending River Tam."

A pause. "Do you know her whereabouts or destination?" he asked.

"I do," said Early. "And I am happy to provide the information in exchange for the partial bounty you offered."

"We can do that," said One. "Please tell me that information, and then I'll have your report."

"River and Simon Tam are on a Firefly-class transport called _Serenity_. They are currently bound for New Melbourne, assuming they haven't changed course after my encounter with the ship."

"Very good," said One. "Provided we can apprehend them, you will receive one hundred and twenty-five thousand credits."

"As I expected. I hope you succeed. You neglected to tell me the girl was a Reader," Early said.

"We don't want it to become public knowledge," said One. "I expect you will keep that information to yourself; if we find out you've been telling tales, we will take harsh action against you."

"I can keep a secret," Early said, and it was true. He had been keeping secrets his entire life. "I assume this is part of the reason you're so eager to get your hands on her."

"Part of the reason, yes," said One. "Now, please tell us what happened."

Early sighed, then began. "I gained access to the ship, disabled their Captain, and locked most of the crew in their rooms. I then tied up the ship's mechanic in the engine room, knocked out one of their passengers, then leveraged Simon Tam to find her. We searched the entire ship, but were unable to find her. When I got on the comm system and threatened to kill Simon, River herself made contact and kept me occupied while she worked from aboard my ship – presumably after making an EVA of her own – and freed the Captain. Once I had learned of her whereabouts, she said she agreed to come with me, so I exited the ship. When I climbed out the dorsal airlock, I found the Captain already suited up and outside the ship. He pushed me into space and they left me for dead. Fortunately, my ship has an automatic homing control that I used to regain my ship and make this wave to you."

"Very good," said One. "And where are you now?"

"I'm on my way to New Melbourne, approximately ninety minutes behind _Serenity._ I will likely have trouble finding her once I reach the planet, without the assistance of Port Control, but I suspect that won't be a problem for you. Still, I intend to try and capture the girl myself. One way or another, we'll have her."

"And you'll have your money. Of course, as I mentioned earlier, you'll have to collect it in person," One said.

"Is that really necessary?" Early asked. "If I'm half a quadrant away, that could be a problem."

"Those are the rules. Cash, paid in person, is part of the deal," One said.

"Alright," Early said. "Hopefully we can get her on New Melbourne and meeting up won't be a problem."

"Is there anything else you'd like to add?" One asked.

"Just that the girl climbed inside my mind; knew my oldest, darkest secrets. The invasion was unwelcome and extremely unpleasant. She's not to be taken lightly," Early said.

"We're aware of that," One said. "We'll take the appropriate caution in dealing with her, and you do the same."

"Very good. Early out," Early said, and disconnected the wave.

Early placed both of his hands over his face. He'd never wanted to kill someone so badly.

 **O-O-O**

Aboard the _I.A.V. Javert,_ One turned to Two. "You know what to do," he said.

"Yes, sir," Two said, and exited the Captain's Ready Room and addressed Captain Wu. "By order of the authority of the Alliance Parliament, you are requested to adjust the course of this ship to New Melbourne, and advise us upon reaching a standard orbit."

"Yes, sir," said Wu. "Helm, set the appropriate course at once, and engage at hard burn."

"Aye, Captain," said the helm officer.

Two left the Bridge and headed back into the Ready Room. Once there, he sat at the table with One, crossing his blue-gloved hands upon the table as One punched up the channel for the communications officer.

"Comm, aye," said the officer.

"Open a channel to Port Control Central on New Melbourne," said One.

"Aye, sir. One moment, please," said the officer.

After a moment, the speakers crackled to life. "New Melbourne Port Control Central Handling, this is Chief McGivers," said a voice.

"Chief, this is a representative of the Parliament. You will find our authorization under code S-298-735-491. Please verify," said One.

There was a pause of almost a minute. "Verified," said the Chief. "You will have our complete cooperation," he said.

"Chief," said Two, "we are searching for a pair of fugitives. They are believed to be travelling in a Firefly-class transport called _Serenity_. You will advise us at this hailing wave number immediately upon the arrival of any such transport, or any unidentified Fireflies. Do not attempt to have local authorities approach the vessel or place a land-lock on it. If you do so, our quarry may flee to another ship and depart the planet before we can arrive. If they do leave the planet prior to our arrival, you will note their filed flight plan and advise us at once. Also, you will make sure this information is disseminated to all port controls on the planet within the hour."

"Yes, sir," said Chief McGivers. "As representatives of the Parliament, your directives will be carried out at once."

"Thank you, Chief," said One. "Your cooperation is appreciated, and will be noted in our report to the Parliament." He then disconnected the wave.

After a long pause, Two turned to One. "What now?" he asked.

One sighed. "I think we need to report in. We'll be as vague as possible. Follow my lead."

One called the communications officer again and requested a call be placed to their contact with the Parliament. After several minutes, a black silhouette appeared on the screen. It was The Man.

"Sir, we have a minor report," One said.

"Very well," The Man said in his clipped Titan accent, recognizable even through his voice filter. "What news do you have for me?"

"One of our bounty hunters has had a near-miss with River Tam and her brother. He believes they are currently en route to New Melbourne. We and the _I.A.V. Javert_ are en route as well, and will report if we are able to make contact or apprehend."

"Very well," said The Man. "Do you have any information on the ship, its class or designation?"

"No," One lied. "Nothing on that at this time, sir. We will of course advise if that changes."

"Do you have anything else to report?" The Man asked.

"Not at this time, sir. We just wanted to bring you up to speed," One said.

"Thank you for your report, then. Three and Four, as well as Five and Six have had no luck, so this is at least hopeful. I look forward to good news from you," The Man said.

"Yes sir. Have a good evening," Two offered.

The wave was then disconnected. Two turned to One. "You realize he'll kill us both if he finds out we've withheld information, don't you?"

"I do," said One. "But I also know he'd kill us if he knew how much we knew and still were unable to apprehend the Tams. Be glad I've given us a degree of deniability."

"Of course, sir. I am," said Two as the pair got up to leave the Ready Room. "You've kept both of us alive so far. That's no small feat, given the choppy waters we navigate, and the deadly nature of our quarry."

 **(Author's Note: And with those words, the era of Firefly comes to an end. Now we enter the great unknown of the period between the end of the series and the beginning of the film, which will be at least a handful of ficlets, possibly more. As always, please review if you've enjoyed this or other ficlets in this series, and feel free to drop me a PM with your thoughts. It's been a fun ride so far, but I'm saving the best for last, as the epilogue is already written, and has been shown to various friends who have said it kicks all kinds of ass, in addition to being the longest ficlet in the series by far, at over 4850 words. I hope you agree when you finally get there. I had originally planned this series of ficlets to be 30-60 chapters long, and here I end the fusion of the pre-Firefly and Firefly eras at exactly 60 ficlets, and expect the entire story to be between 70 and 80 ficlets by the time I'm finished, including the epilogue, which is entitled "Epilogue: You Can't Take The Sky From Me", and yes, it even includes the theme song in its entirety (along with some fan-written verses) as performed by Jayne on his guitar. Oh, and by the way, for those that haven't read it elsewhere, I wrote this scene because Joss Whedon himself said that Jubal Early was his favorite supporting character, and that he definitely survived his little walk in space. He probably would have made at least one more appearance, had the series gone on. I assumed it would be next to impossible to be picked up by another ship in the short span he had left, so the only possible explanation would have to be that he had a homing device that allowed him to call his ship to him automatically. It's literally the only explanation that makes any sense.)**

 **(Next Time: Departure - Inara leaves the ship on New Melbourne, devastating the crew, especially Mal and Kaylee. River reveals a secret to Mal.)**


	61. Departure

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 61: Departure  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Well isn't that something? I knew you let her kiss you."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds - Episode 6: "Our Mrs. Reynolds"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

 _Serenity_ was still three days out from New Melbourne, and it was dinner time, 1800 hours. Kaylee and River helped Simon to the table, as he was still recovering from the bullet he had taken to his left thigh, and didn't want to risk pulling his stitches.

The crew laughed and joked, as they usually did, and the meal was as many meals on the ship had been for over two years, full of camaraderie and family. Finally, Inara cleared her throat during a lull in the conversation, and blurted out, "Everyone, I have an announcement to make."

All eyes turned to Inara, who seemed uncomfortable for the attention, which was unusual for her, as her social skills were a major part of her bread and butter. "When we get to New Melbourne, I will be leaving the ship," she said. Kaylee gasped, and there was a long silence.

"Why are you leaving us?" Kaylee asked. She was shocked and visibly upset.

"The Captain has been taking too much time out on the Rim, and the stops where I can work have been too few and far between," Inara lied, but there was a bit of truth to what she was saying. "I've spoken to a few acquaintances in the Guild, and I will be both working and instructing Companion hopefuls at the Training House on New Bedford."

"I don't want you to go!" Kaylee exclaimed. "You're like a big sister to me, and I don't want to let you go."

"I know," Inara said. "I know that my leaving will be a big change for this crew, and I know that I will miss you all, will probably regret my decision the moment I leave, but I can't make any money this way, and at this rate, I won't have enough to pay my rent on the shuttle and pay for the Guild membership I enjoy at this rate."

Shepherd Book reached over and squeezed Inara's hand. "I'm supposed to be the one with all the wisdom on this ship," he said, "but you've been invaluable to me as a gentle guide and loving counsel. I will miss you very much as well."

Inara smiled, sadly. A few at the table noticed that Mal sat, stony-faced at the head of the table. As conversation ensued about Inara's impending departure, Mal said nothing.

 **O-O-O**

That night, as Inara packed up Shuttle 1, River and Kaylee joined her with a Capture and documented everything. Finally, Inara rolled her eyes and smiled. "Kaylee, are you ever going to put that Capture down?"

Kaylee grinned as she continued shooting vid, following Inara with the Capture as she walked past. "We gotta have records of everything, Inara. A bona fide Companion entertained clients on this very ship! In this very bed!" She turned the camera on the bed, recording it for posterity as River sniffed at it tentatively.

"Well, I can't do my work here," Inara said. "And I don't think the Captain approves."

"The Captain wants you to stay as much as-" Kaylee began.

"That man doesn't know what he wants," Inara said acidly. "And I don't have time to wait around for him to figure it out."

Inara was packing a trunk of dresses and undergarments. She had already planned to leave the trunk behind so that the Captain would have a reminder of her once she was gone. Part of her was hoping that he would ask her to stay. If he asked her, just once, she would.

She loved him, that much she knew, but his night spent in Nandi's bed had proved to be too much for her to bear, and she knew that he would never stop tormenting her with his disdain for her work, and never ask her to be with him. She had to get away, as much as she wanted to stay. She would miss them all, especially Kaylee and Book, to say nothing of Mal, the man she loved. Hell, she'd even miss Jayne, the murderous brute of the crew.

Once the packing was done, and River and Kaylee had left, taking her Capture with her, Inara went on the Cortex and contacted a moving company, arranging for a truck and laborers to transport her furniture and belongings once the ship had landed on New Melbourne. From there, she would book passage to New Bedford, and then have her things ferried to the new ship. She covered her face with her hands and began to cry. She really didn't want to do this; she had spoken to Mal of becoming tied to a place, that sometimes people and places had a way of getting inside of you, and that they became a part of you; you couldn't break away from them, and you never wanted to. _Serenity_ had become such a place, but she felt she had no choice but to leave it. After all, what did she have to offer Mal anyway? Just the threat of a painful and lingering death that might begin at any moment, should her Xenopolycythemia become symptomatic. That Sword of Damocles that hung above her head had prevented her from making any lasting connections to people for years, and had driven her from the arms and lives of those she loved on Sihnon.

How could she begin to live again when that life might be snatched from her at any moment?

 **O-O-O**

Two and a half days later, the ship came in for a landing at its berth at the Clinton Docks in Sydney on New Melbourne, and Inara immediately left the ship on foot, empty handed but for a handbag, and attempted to find passage to New Bedford. She returned three hours later, just as the Captain returned with his cargo, some of which was being towed behind his new toy, an MF-813 Land Speeder, a hovercraft that was to replace the Mule that had been destroyed while storming Niska's Skyplex some months before. Also dubbed "The Mule" in honor of its predecessor, which had served them even to the point of glory and valor in battle, the new craft could easily hold a driver and three passengers, plus cargo. Mal pulled the much larger vehicle into the cargo bay and detatched the cargo trailer from its rear. "Zoe," he said, let's use the chains to hoist it up to the ceiling. We'll store it up there when it's not in use; it's just too _gorram_ big to leave it on the floor of the bay."

"Yes, sir," Zoe said, and began to set about her work, with Jayne's help.

As the rest of the cargo was stored in the bay, Inara called the moving company, and two hours later, a trio of laborers pulled up in a truck and began unloading most of her things from Shuttle 1, excepting the trunk she had already decided to leave behind within an hour, the truck was loaded.

When the truck pulled away, headed for the new ship to offload, everyone on the crew came down into the bay to see Inara off. Kaylee gave her a big hug, and begged the Companion to stay in contact. Book also hugged her, and thanked her for all her advice over the last year. River was the third hug, but didn't say anything, as she looked preoccupied for some reason. Each, in turn, bade her farewell, until finally, she was face to face with the Captain. "Thank you for everything, Mal. I'll be sure to send you a wave once I get settled at the Training House."

"You do that," Mal said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. He held out its hand. "It's been an honor, Inara, and despite anything I might have said in the past, you are a respectable, and honorable woman. You will be missed." They shook hands, although River noted with interest that they both repressed a desire to embrace one another, even to kiss.

Inara left at last, giving one final wave before descending the ramp and heading off, and the crew began to mill about, most eventually heading for the galley for lunch. After a few minutes, only Mal and River remained behind in the cargo bay.

"Inara didn't kiss Saffron," River said at last, after a few solid minutes of silence as the pair stood together, looking at the ramp.

"What?" Mal asked, shaken out of his reverie at Inara's departure.

"I said that Inara never kissed Saffron, back when she passed out the night we almost died due to the Carrion House," River elaborated.

"Then how did she pass out?" Mal asked. "She already admitted that she didn't just trip and fall."

River smirked. "Isn't it obvious? Saffron told her that you were dead, so she rushed to your bunk. When she discovered you on the floor, not moving, she feared the worst, and took you into her arms. When you moaned in your sleep, she was relieved, and kissed you on the mouth. That's why she passed out a few seconds later."

"She kissed… me?" Mal asked with disbelief.

"Yes. I knew it at the time, and it was fresh in Inara's mind when she was leaving," River said.

Mal was suddenly overwrought. He wanted to rush off the ship, to find Inara and beg her to stay with _Serenity_ , to tell her how he felt, now that he knew for sure how she felt about him. But it was too late; she was lost in the crowds, and never bothered to tell him which ship she had booked passage on. She could even be off-planet by now, for all he knew.

" _Gorramit,_ girl, why didn't you say something six months ago? Or even six _minutes_ ago? She might have stayed if you had just told me," Mal fumed.

"I thought you'd be smart enough to ask her to stay," River said. "It's not my place to interfere in your lives. And besides, if she had wanted you to know, she would have told you before she left."

Mal threw up his hands. "I'll be in my bunk," he said, and stormed off.

"Don't worry," said River. "You'll see her again, I promise."

That night, Kaylee wept and Mal drank himself into a stupor with a bottle of tequila while both sat on their beds in their respective bunks, at the loss of Inara from their family aboard the Firefly-class transport _Serenity_. The family was missing a member, and her absence would be sorely noted by all.

 **(Author's Note: And now we find ourselves firmly ensconced in the post-Firefly, pre-Serenity era. I still have a bunch of stories I need to tell, some loose ends to wrap up, and some stories that Joss Whedon intended to tell had the series been continued. Once those are finished, we will move on to the film era, and once that's complete, the long-awaited epilogue, which I guarantee to thrill and bring enjoyment as you will eventually learn the ultimate fates of all the characters, as the narrative stretches decades into the future. Until then, however, I have written another nine "Coming Soon" placeholders, having written up to Chapter 65 prior to this. That means that, including the epilogue, this series will finally come to its conclusion at 75 ficlets, which is a nice, round number, and is far longer than the 30-60 ficlets I had originally intended. Final publication will take place on Friday, May 6** **th** **, 2016, barring any hiccups in my release of chapters, which is not expected to happen, as I have done a good job of making sure that each chapter is written well over a day before it is due to be released. It's been a wild ride, and you, my fans, have been engaging, thought-provoking, and very kind in your missives to me, as well as your reviews. I write for you just as much as I write for myself, if not moreso, so feedback is greatly appreciated, even cherished. Thank you so much for all you've given me in return so far!)**

 **(Next Time: People-Shaped Holes - The loss of Inara is sorely felt by the crew, in some unexpected ways.)**


	62. People-Shaped Holes

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 62: People-Shaped Holes  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Captain will drive us all off, one by one… Just like Inara."  
-Kaylee Frye – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

A noise was coming from the upper deck. A moaning, crying noise. Hands on the banister and feet on the metal steps, ascending, ever ascending. The moaning and crying got louder and louder, yet the stairs never seemed to end. Moving faster now, faster and faster, yet never getting any closer, despite the moaning and weeping as it rose in pitch, volume, and intensity to a frantic shriek. Inara was dying. Finally, the top of the stairs were in view, and there were hands on the controls to the hatch of Shuttle 1. There was a second of hesitation as the hatch slid open, far too slowly. Time was slowing down, except for the almost animalistic human noises, which continued to rise in urgency.

At long last, the hatch was open, and suddenly inside, the shuttle was empty except for Inara on the floor, her forehead feverish as she lay crying and in pain in the middle of the central compartment, collapsed to the floor. Only a single trunk lay beside her, almost as if it was there to keep her company.

"I'm dying," Inara said. "I'm dying, and I'm going to die alone. Please, I don't want to die alone. Don't leave me."

A voice now, another voice. "Then why did you leave? If you were afraid of leaving us and being alone, you shouldn't have left us."

Inara screamed, her chest heaving as she wept uncontrollably. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head in a seizure. She was dying, right now.

Arms around her now, clutching her close. "I love you, Inara. Don't leave me. Don't ever leave. Come back to me. I need you."

With a start and a small cry, Kaylee shot up in her bed in a cold sweat, panting in fear as she snapped into a sitting position. Trembling, she got out of bed in her nightshirt, which she had gotten at a Denow Raiders concert when she was a teenager, one of the few interplanetary bands that had actually come to Pollux, and pulled out her sink. She ran the tap, which came out in a trickle, and filled her cupped palms with water before splashing it on her face, then again, through her hairline, which was soaked already, washing out the sweat, before turning off the tap and wiping down her face and head with a towel. She went to a shelf and grabbed a cup and a bottle of strawberry schnapps that had cost her nearly a quarter of her cut from one of _Serenity's_ jobs.

" _Daxiang baozhashi de laduzi!_ Just rutting shiny…" She poured herself four fingers of schnapps and guzzled it down before pouring a second cup, at which point she placed the bottle on the floor next to her bed, and began to sip at the second drink. She wasn't really sly, even though she had always harbored a crush upon the Cortex drama actress Melissa Mayhart, even from when she was little, but this was different. She thought of the time Inara had brought the Councilor on board to see her in her shuttle while it was still connected to the ship, and she recalled the twinge of jealousy she felt at watching them together as Inara escorted her up the stairs.

Now Inara was gone, and while Simon had her heart, and she would follow him to the Rim and to the Core and back again, she was also in love with Inara, and had been almost from the day that the Companion had come on board the ship. They had been like sisters, and indeed, Inara almost always called her _meimei_ , but for Kaylee, at least, there was more, and now one of the people she loved most in all the world was gone, possibly never to be seen again, except by wave from a dozen worlds away.

She began to cry again, and took a long sip of her drink in between crying jags. She tried to console herself with the thought that nothing would probably have ever happened between the two women, and that she still had Simon in her life, but that didn't really soften the blow. She finished her drink, took a Dalpidem Tartarate from a bottle that Simon had given her after the raid on Ariel, which was to help her when she was having trouble sleeping, and quickly fell into unconsciousness again. It was a deep, dreamless sleep. fortunately. When she awoke, however, it was because her face was gently bouncing off the ceiling. To her shock and extreme annoyance, the gravity drive had gone offline during the night. As she leveraged herself against a wall to push off towards the ladder of her bunk, Mal's voice came over the comm. "Kaylee, what in the pits of darkest _diyu_ is goin' on with my boat?" he yelled.

Kaylee grasped the ladder and reached over for the terminal by the entrance to the room, engaging the microphone. "Looks like it's the port compression coil acting up again, Captain. Wash, have you tried a reboot of the gravity drive?"

Wash, who must have been strapped in on the Bridge by now, answered immediately. "First thing I tried," he said. "Ain't made a bit of difference, Kaylee."

"Okay," said Kaylee. "I'm on my way to the cargo bay to get some magnetic boots on. Then give me an hour, two tops, to rewire the gravity drive."

"You've got thirty minutes," Mal said, "or else I float you out an airlock."

Mal was obviously still upset about Inara leaving, too, which wasn't helping either of their moods. "Yes, Cap'n," she responded, and slid up the ladder and into the corridor before floating aft towards the cargo bay, where the suits were kept.

Ten minutes later, she was putting on the magnetic boots with one arm hooked around the handle used to open the compartment that stored the EVA suits. Once booted, she walked back to the engine room and set to work on the compression coil and the gravity drive. In slightly over an hour, she contacted Wash, and advised him to re-engage the gravity at .1 of Shadow gravity, which was a surprisingly close 1.007 of Earth-That-Was. Slowly, safely, the members of the crew floated gently to the floor. "Wait five minutes, Wash, then crank it up .1 every minute until we're at norm."

"Understood, Kaylee," Wash said.

Kaylee sighed, and patted her engine. She didn't know how this week could possibly get any worse.

 **O-O-O**

She didn't have to wait long to find out, as the ship came into orbit of La Costa.

"This is La Costa Central Port Control, Firefly transport _Serenity_. Do not approach."

Kaylee was on the Bridge, checking for damage to the grav drive emitters there as the Captain got on the wave to Port Control.

"This is Captain Reynolds. La Costa is part of our regular route; we've been here at least a half a dozen times. Why are we being denied landfall?" he asked.

Port Control was unimpressed. "Because you no longer have a Registered Companion on board," said the man's gruff voice. "Until she joins you again, or you get another Companion, you ain't landing here. If you do, we'll slap a land-lock on you until you submit to a hearing with the local Magistrate and pay a five-hundred platinum fine."

"Rut you," Mal said. "Our clients depend on our cargo from New Melbourne. You're shooting yourself in the foot," he spat.

"Breaks my heart," the Port Control operator said with a chuckle. "We'll live. Maybe you should have asked your Companion to stay."

Mal looked as if he had been slapped, and Kaylee felt a stab in her heart. The Captain didn't argue the point, punching the cutoff control for the wave panel and growled at Wash. "Set a course for Ares," he said. "They'll take us, even if we ain't got a whore on board."

 **O-O-O**

While _Serenity_ was still over a day out from Ares, Kaylee sat down at the dining table as Mal worked, cleaning and servicing his pistols. She sat, watching him for a long while. After the silence reached a point where it was becoming uncomfortable, Mal broke it by asking, "Hey, little Kaylee, what's the news?"

Kaylee didn't beat around the bush. "You should have asked her to stay, Captain."

"No," said Mal. "This is not a conversation I am interested in having with you."

Kaylee pressed on, undeterred and unafraid. "Port Control was right. You should have done more to keep her. She wanted to stay. I have a capture of her packing." She pulled out a piece of electronic card stock paper, and handed it to him. He pressed the play button on the vid paper, and began to watch Kaylee and Inara talking as the Companion packed. After a few long moments, he closed his eyes. "May I have this?" he asked.

"Of course," Kaylee said, realizing that he probably didn't even have a photograph of her. "I printed it for you."

"Thank you," said Mal. He looked as though he wanted to burst into tears, and, if his breath over the past half-week had been any indication, he would watch this vid many times tonight while drinking himself into oblivion again.

"I love her too, Mal," Kaylee continued. "She was my sister on the ship." She didn't elaborate, and kept the fact that she harbored a secret crush on Inara to herself.

"I found out something about her right after she left the ship, from River. Something that would have made me ask her to stay. But it's too late," Mal said. "She's gone. I have to move on."

"You could ask her to come back, sir," Kaylee said.

"She apparently had feelings for me," Mal said. "Rather than act on them, she chose to leave, and to never tell me how she felt. For good or ill, she and I both made our choices, Kaylee. Now we have to live with them."

Kaylee said nothing, and found herself lost in thought. Mal had a point. She never knew if Inara felt anything for her, but also for good or ill, Kaylee had chosen to keep her attraction to Inara a secret, and she now had to live with that choice as well.

"I'll be in my bunk," Kaylee said, rising to her feet.

"Goodnight, Kaylee," Mal said as he continued to work on his weapons.

That night, they both drank alone, and reflected on the consequences of their actions, or in this case, their inactions, and in both their cases, they polished off their bottles long before their misery was adequately metabolized.

Kaylee did come to one conclusion, however. When she was a child, a friend of hers died in a motor vehicle accident. Her father, in a surprising burst of eloquence, told her that friends, family, and those closest to us became a part of the fabric of our lives, and when they were suddenly ripped from us, their absence left a hole behind. A people-shaped hole. Now there was an Inara-shaped hole in her life, and she didn't know how to fill it; the schnapps hadn't helped much, and that made her think of the slug she'd taken to the belly. She went over to the mirror and lifted up her shirt, looking at the Windsor bolt-head shaped scar on her stomach. As the Doctor had promised, it had healed pretty well, and the color had faded to almost match the tissue around it. It still had a smiley face drawn on it, as she redrew it at least once a week.

The hole in her belly had healed, grown together, but would the hole in her life where Inara had been do the same? She honestly didn't know, and she wasn't looking forward to finding out. She decided to go and talk to Simon instead, and climbed the ladder out of her bunk, despite her inebriated state, and went to find him.

 **(Author's Note: I know that a Kaylee and Inara pairing isn't canon, and I have no idea how popular it is in fanfiction, but it was at the suggestion of my fiancée last night that I explore the idea, as Brittany mentioned that Kaylee's stunned and almost speechless reaction to Inara's appointment with the Councilor in Episode 10, "War Stories" was so extreme that it bordered on the suspicious. In hindsight, I am forced to agree, and I decided to take this opportunity to explore Kaylee's unrequited feelings for Inara in this ficlet. I hope you enjoyed this slight detour into the speculative with me. By the way, for those unfamiliar with his work, or those that failed to recognize the reference, the metaphor of people-shaped holes in our lives comes from Chuck Palahniuk's novel "Lullaby", my all-time favorite novel, published some 15 or so years ago. It's a wonderful book, and I strongly recommend everyone reading this pick up a copy and give it a read.)**

 **(Next Time: I Can Kill You With My Brain - When Jayne is taken prisoner by the Hands of Blue, River displays a surprising new power.)**


	63. I Can Kill You With My Brain

**.  
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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 63: I Can Kill You With My Brain  
By Gamera Obscura**

"… **And you put them in a room. With a psychic."  
-The Operative – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

It was a brisk autumn day on Paquin when they found Jayne.

The fighter, the fiercest and most deadly on _Serenity_ , was shopping with his cut of their latest deal in New Cardiff on Ares when it happened. The two men approchched him on the street and before he had a chance to pull his pistol, a pair of lasers were digging into either side.

Jayne raised his hands, instinctively. "What do you want?" he asked.

A hand reached into his holster and pulled out his weapon, then they took his knife. "Take three steps forward and turn around," one of them said.

Jayne stepped forward, then turned on a heel, hands still in the air. Standing before him were a pair of men dressed in black suits, and, strangely enough, each was wearing a pair of blue latex gloves.

 _Two By Two, Hands Of Blue…_

Jayne's bowels clenched. If the screaming at St. Lucy's on Ariel was any indication, these men were the Angels of Death in the flesh. He'd seen the broadwave a few days after that incident that all the Feds in the security substation had been murdered, and he had no doubt that these men were the ones who had done it.

"We recognized you from the record of your wave. You're the informant that tried to turn in River and Simon Tam on Ariel, sir," said One.

"We're sorry for the trouble in your collecting the payment. Agent McGuiness should never have tried to bilk you out of your reward; we've rectified that problem," said Two. "The offer is still open, if you lead us to the Tams. Two hundred and fifty thousand credits, as promised."

Jayne scowled. "I ain't believin' a word o' that," he said. "You get her, you're gonna kill me just like you killed the Feds."

"I assure you that's not the case," said One. "We know she's on a Firefly called _Serenity_. You'll lead us to your ship now."

"The Tams are gone," Jayne lied. "They left the ship after Ariel, once they knew I turned them in. Weren't safe for them anymore."

"Nice try," said Two, "but we know she was on your ship as recently as two weeks ago." He aimed the laser pistol at Jayne's head. "You'll take us, now, or you'll die here, in the street."

Jayne could do nothing but acquiesce. "Ship's about a mile outside of town." He knew that they would try to kill him, possibly the entire ship's crew, before they were done, but maybe, if he was lucky, he could take them out without dying himself. He'd wait for his moment, but for now, he turned, and began to lead them toward the ship, lowering his hands as he walked.

"Who are you?" Jayne asked after a few minutes of walking, as they came to the edge of town. He looked over his shoulder, and saw that Mal and Zoe were following from a discreet distance, having apparently seen the altercation in the street. He wondered where Wash and Kaylee were. Probably back in town, if he had to reckon. The Tams were alone aboard _Serenity_ , as they usually were unless the ship was on a backwater.

"We work for the Parliament," One said. "I guess you'd call us independent contractors, but we have broad authority to find Simon and River Tam. We're the ones that posted the bounty, in fact, and we're carrying the money on our shuttle, back in town. Don't worry; you'll still get your share once the Tams are in custody, despite your urge to protect them."

Two joined the conversation. "We understand that you don't trust us after what happened on Ariel. The problem was that we were offering the bounty to anyone who brought in the Tams, even members of the Federal Marshalls Corps. That oversight has been corrected, so if you'd turned them in again just a few days later, you wouldn't have been pinched," he said.

"Yeah, right," Jayne said. "I'll believe that when I see it."

"Oh, you will," Two said. "Trust us."

"I ain't trustin' you any farther than I can throw this _gorram_ moon," Jayne spat. "You killed people on your own side. You're gonna do the same to me as soon as you get what you want."

"Mr. Cobb," said One, "– and yes, we know who you are, from the record of your interrogation by the Alliance nearly a year ago, once we knew what ship the Tams were on – we have no desire to hurt you. You'll just have to wait and see."

Jayne said nothing, and just continued walking. About fifteen minutes later, the ship was in view, its prow poking out from behind a rocky outcrop. The ramp was down, as it usually was when the ship was more or less empty.

Jayne began to think, hard. He knew the girl was a Reader, that she could hear thoughts. He didn't know from how far away, or how well, or how any of that hocus-pocus worked, but he began to think hard about the Hands Of Blue, and how they were leading him at gunpoint towards the ship.

They climbed the ramp, and Jayne began to get nervous, as nervous as when he was confronted by the thought of a Reaver encounter. He was possibly minutes from death, and he knew it.

"Where does River Tam usually spend her time?" One asked.

"In the passenger dorm, aft of the cargo bay," Jayne said. He heard a click and a hum, and turned around. One of them was holding a small device in his free hand. Sticking out of either side of his closed palm were a pair of thin, blue rods. "What is-" he began.

Suddenly, River Tam stepped out from behind a stack of cargo containers, confronting the two men.

" _Etakul na-_ " One began, then stopped. One and Two both began swaying on their feet as the device with the rods dropped to the ground. Then the pair keeled over and did not move.

"I'm barefoot!" River shouted. "Break that thing with your boot! Hurry!"

Jayne rushed forward and stomped on the device with his steel-toed boot several times, until the humming stopped. The Hands Of Blue were still motionless. Jayne wiped a bit of blood from his nose. "Was that a weapon?" he asked River.

"Yes," she said. "A Diapedizer. They use them to give people strokes, and worse. It's what they used on Ariel."

"And what happened to them? How come they ain't movin'?" Jayne asked.

"I told you," River said. "I can kill you with my brain. I disrupted their Wernicke's Area – part of the speech center of the brain – and burst the Circle of Willis in each of their heads. They're both dead of massive strokes of their own."

"Girl, you just not only saved my life, and your own, but probably everyone on this ship, too," Jayne said as he gathered the laser pistols from the men. "I always wanted me a laser pistol to fool around with. Now I got me two of 'em. Reckon I'll need to buy a charger or two for 'em."

River laughed. "You won't tell the Captain what I did, will you?"

Jayne gave her a long look. "Naw. More trouble than it's worth. For you."

At that moment, Mal and Zoe appeared on the ramp, quickly assessing the situation. "What happened here, Jayne?"

Jayne smiled. "These two were after River and Simon. They had a gadget that causes strokes. I wrested it from them and turned it on them. Now they're dead and I have a pair of laser pistols as souvenirs."

"Good work, Jayne," said Mal. "I'm sure Simon will be relieved, once he hears."

"One problem, Mal," said Jayne. "They knew Simon and River were on the ship, and the name of the ship. They had files on all of us. We need to hide."

" _Ni tama de tianxia suoyou de ren dou gaisi!_ I'll have Wash scramble our transponder code, then. We'll make for Haven and lie low for a while, see if anything comes up on the Cortex advising the Feds to capture us. And if it does, well, then we'll deal with that when it happens. Let's just hope those two were the only ones who knew about us."

Jayne nodded, then headed for his bunk.

Mal reached for his comm and called Wash. "Shopping's over," he said. "Gather everyone up and get them back to the ship, _ma shong._ We gotta get outta here now."

 **O-O-O**

Meanwhile, onboard the _I.A.V. Javert,_ Captain Wu sat in his Ready Room and called a number on Londinium that he had been given for just such an eventuality. The call was connected as he sat at his table in front of the viewing screen, and a black silouhette appeared. "Who is this?" The Man asked.

"This is Captain Wu of the _I.A.V. Javert,_ " Wu said. "I don't know who you are, sir, but One and Two's bio monitors are registering that they are dead. I was instructed to call this number if that ever happened."

"I see," said The Man in his clipped, Titan accent. "I assume they were on a planet or moon at the time this happened?"

"Yes, sir. Ares," Wu said.

"Then you will arrange to have their shuttle retrieved at once, and delivered to Londinium. It is the property of the Parliament," The Man said.

"It will be done at once, sir. Shall we search for the bodies?" Wu asked.

"That won't be necessary. If they are aboard or around the shuttle, bag and tag them and return them to Londinium along with any of their belongings, otherwise, do not waste time or effort on an extensive search," The Man replied. "That is all."

"Of course, sir," Wu said. "At once."

The call disconnected, displaying a Telofonix logo on the screen. He got up and stepped into the Bridge.

"XO, muster a shuttle crew for an immediate mission to the moon's surface," Wu said.

 **O-O-O**

On Londinium, The Operative stood up from his desk and reached for his sword, placing it into the scabbard strapped to his back. "It appears that I'm going to have to get personally involved in this after all," he said, then left the room, headed for the offices of the Parliament.

 **(Author's Note: And with that,** _ **Exeunt**_ **the Hands Of Blue. I hope you enjoyed their arc as well. Three and Four, as well as Five and Six are still out there, wandering the 'Verse in search of Simon and River, but I doubt we'll be seeing any of them. In the meantime, we have the aftermath of River saving Jayne, the exit of the Shepherd, another encounter with Niska's men, and a few unproduced episode ideas converted into ficlet form to explore before we get to the era of "Serenity". As always, review or PM me if you're so inclined. I do so adore hearing from my fans! Also, thank you to those that wrote in and let me know that if I needed a break that I should take one. I have no desire or intention to take a break. While I find that the actual writing process is a chore, I still adore the feeling of accomplishment I get from finishing a chapter, and I get a thrill whenever I publish new material each morning; I made a promise to myself and to my fans that I would publish every day until this tale is told. As long as I feel the quality of my work is not suffering, I will continue. And I find my writing quality is still very high. If you disagree, be sure to let me know, as we are not always the best judges of our own work. Oh, and a note about yesterday's ficlet, "People-Shaped Holes". While I knew that the idea of Kaylee having a crush on Inara would be controversial, I did not expect the kind of vitriol I received from one or two guest reviewers. Since I cannot respond to them directly, I will do so here, assuming they are still reading. The exploration of the idea of Kaylee having feelings for Inara in no way is an expression of a personal desire or the pushing of an "agenda" on my part. It was merely a speculation, nothing more, one suggested by a devout Christian, I might add. It wasn't even my idea; it was suggested to me, I took as potentially good fodder for a bit of angst, and ran with it. I am not part of a vast global conspiracy trying to turn the world gay, despite what you think. I also explored the idea that Jayne had feelings for Kaylee, despite the fact that while it is implied Jayne cares about Kaylee, it isn't canon either. I heard no complaints from you or anyone else. So maybe you should look in the mirror before declaring that I am "part of the problem".)**

 **(Next Time: I Will Never Ever Harm You - After River saves Jayne's life, Jayne comes to an understanding with Simon.)**


	64. I Will Never Ever Harm You

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 64: I Will Never Ever Harm You  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **We could circle each other and growl, sleep with one eye open, but that thought wearies me."  
-Doctor Simon Tam – Episode 11, "Trash"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

 _Serenity_ was still a day and a half out from Haven, and Doctor Simon Tam was sitting on the chair in the infirmary, removing his stitches from the wound in his leg, which was healing nicely.

"Physician, heal thyself?" asked a voice from the doorway. It was Jayne Cobb.

"Good morning, Jayne," said Simon coldly as he teased the last of the suture out of his thigh and placed it into a metal tray with a forceps.

"Got a minute, Doc?" Jayne asked.

"For you, Jayne, I've got ten. What do you need?" Simon teased.

"I wanted to talk to you," Jayne said. "If it's not a bad time."

Simon stood up and pulled up his pants. "Not at all. What do you want to talk about?"

"Two hundred and fifty thousand. Credits," Jayne said.

"Excuse me?" Simon asked.

"You wanted to know how much the Alliance was offering me to sell out you and your sister on Ariel. It was two hundred and fifty thousand credits. Two hundred for her, fifty for you."

"That's an impressive amount of money," Simon said.

"Too impressive," Jayne said. "I got stupid. And I was mad about your sister slicing me with that butcher's knife. I'm sorry."

"I told you, Jayne, I don't care what you've done. I'm trusting you," Simon replied.

"Those two that got killed trying to get at you and your sister on Ares, they offered me the bounty again; I lied and told them you'd both left the ship after I flipped on you on Ariel I ain't heard from you since," Jayne said. "They didn't believe me, and insisted on taking me to the ship at gunpoint to look for you."

"I never had a chance to thank you for taking them out," Simon said. "They might have actually given you the bounty if you hadn't."

"Not a chance," Jayne said. "They tried to use that device on me the second we were aboard. River said to destroy it. And that's part of what I wanted to talk to you about. I told River I wouldn't tell the Captain, but you should know. She killed them."

Simon was stunned. "River killed the Hands of Blue?"

"Yeah," Jayne said, unsure of what to say beyond that.

"But they died of strokes, I thought," Simon replied.

"That's the thing. When you had me paralyzed on the table on Bellerophon, after you left, your sister said she could kill me with her brain. On the ship, when the Hands of Blue came on board, she proved that weren't a bit of a lie."

"She… She killed them… with her brain?" Simon asked, incredulously.

"That's what she said," Jayne offered. "One of them tried to say something, something I didn't recognize. She stopped them in their tracks, one of them dropped the weapon, and then they both fell over, dead. Burst their Circle of Williams, she said."

"You mean the Circle of Willis?" Simon asked.

"That's it," Jayne agreed. "That musta been what she said."

"That would kill someone instantly, alright," Simon said.

"She saved all our lives," Jayne said. "If they were the ones from Ariel, they woulda killed everyone on the ship, starting with me, and taken her back. I owe her, and I owe you. For what it's worth, I'm sorry."

Simon sighed. "She stabbed you. You were mad, and saw a way to make a fortune; at least you learned that there's no collecting on that bounty and you learned the lesson without having to go to prison for it. Thanks to you, we all got out of that nightmare at St. Lucy's."

"I still betrayed you, and I regret it. Please don't tell anyone else. Cap knows; he almost flushed me out the airlock while we were breaking atmo leaving Ariel; he figured it out long before you did," Jayne said.

"And I would never have figured it out if River hadn't told me that you were afraid of us finding out," Simon offered.

"That was what saved me," Jayne said. "Cap was gonna let me fly out the open airlock, until I begged him to make up some reason as to why I was dead, instead of tellin' everyone what I done. When I said that, he closed the airlock and decided to let me live. I still don't want the others knowing. I promised to keep River killing those Hands of Blue guys a secret from the Captain, and in return I'd appreciate it if you would keep my sellin' you out on Ariel a secret, too."

Simon smiled, weakly, and held out his hand. "Done," he said, and Jayne shook his hand.

"I ain't got nothin' against you, Doc. Not no more. Nor your sister," Jayne said.

"I'm glad to hear that," Simon said. "That's good to know."

"We probably ain't ever gonna be good friends or nothin', but I respect you for what you did on Ariel, savin' that fella when it weren't none of your business. I almost bailed on my plan right there. If it weren't for the money, and the fact that I need to help my ma and my brother Mattie, who keeps coming down with the damp lung and is almost always sick, I would have."

"Okay," Simon replied, not sure what else to say to that. "You still could have left us for them and just escaped by yourself on Ariel. Even though you put us in that situation to begin with, you still saved us, just like you tried to save us the other day, and I won't forget that. I keep saying it, and I'll say it again: I will never, ever harm you, and I'm trusting that you won't ever try to harm us again."

 **O-O-O**

At dinner that night, Shepherd Book spoke up during the meal, and addressed the Captain. "I can understand the need to lay low, Mal, but why Haven? What's so special about that place?"

Mal finished a long draught of his water and put down his cup. "Haven's the first moon off Deadwood, and it ain't just called Haven for no reason. The locals there shelter outlaws on the lam from the Alliance. The place is built for layin' low. It's furthest out on the Burnham quadrant, practically in the middle of nowhere, and the settlement we're goin' to, Gabriel's Rest, has a subterranean cavern for ships to hide in, so they can't be spotted from orbit by any Alliance patrols. We'll be safe there, provided we pay the docking fees, which are higher than normal. The money goes to the townsfolk."

"A place literally built for hiding out. Sounds like exactly what we need at the moment," Book said.

"That reminds me," said Mal. "Any bulletins on the Cortex to stop and seize Serenity or any Fireflies?" he asked Wash.

"Not a peep on the Cortex, Mal. Looks like we're probably in the clear," Wash replied.

Zoe spoke up at this point. "I figure if we still haven't heard anything after a couple of weeks on Haven, we'll probably be fine, and it'll be safe to resume business," she said.

"Sounds about right," Mal said.

Book reflected silently for a moment. Haven might be his port of harbor after all, depending on how populated it was and whether or not his preaching would be welcome. He was low on funds anyway, and had been looking for an excuse to get off the ship since the shootout on Niska's Skyplex. He hadn't been sleeping well at night, and the faces of those men he had killed haunted his dreams. He'd get the lay of the land once they got there, and then make a decision. If he did end up staying there, he still had his seeds; he could plant a garden again, rebuild a life like what he had at the Abbey on Haven. It was time. Life aboard _Serenity_ was hardening him, was changing him. He needed to get off and get his heart right with Jesus once more. The criminal element he was associating with was causing him to revert back to the old ways, and making him violate his oath. Enough was enough.

"You okay, Preacher?" Mal asked. "You look like something's bothering you."

"No, no," Book lied. "I just have a lot of my mind right now, and the ship possibly being pursued has only added to the stress. I feel helpless that we might all be arrested and there's nothing that I can do."

"There's nothing to be done. If a bulletin does come up on the Cortex," Mal said, "then Simon and River get off on Haven. If we do get boarded, there'll be no evidence they were ever with us, and the Alliance'll have to let us go."

River pouted. The idea of leaving the ship was not a pleasant one to her. Inara was already gone, and Book was halfway off the ship already. That was hard enough on her. The idea of losing her home completely was almost unbearable. The night that Jubal Early had invaded the ship, her brother had told Kaylee that _Serenity_ was more of a home to her than any place else she had ever been, and he'd been right about that. She didn't miss her house on Osiris. She didn't miss her mother and father, at least not often. But she'd miss _Serenity_ , and its crew.

"River, eat your food," Simon said. "There are children starving on Jianying."

River stuck her tongue out at him and began to eat again. She was disturbed, but she could usually hide it well.

"Haven is near Reaver territory," River said between mouthfuls.

"Reavers?" Jayne asked, suddenly concerned. Even Kaylee looked unhappy at the mention of them.

"Reavers have never hit Haven," Mal said. It's too sparsely populated. They've hit Deadwood a few times, but never Haven. I think it'll be fine."

 **O-O-O**

Later, after dinner, Simon came to see River in her dorm. "Jayne told me that you were the one to kill the Hands of Blue, not him," he said.

"I know," she told him. "I read it in both your thoughts during supper."

"Then you know we're both going to keep it a secret from the crew. River, if you do something like that in front of anyone else onboard, they'll probably kick us off the ship. We're already treading on thin ice here. They already know you're a psychic, and that's bad enough. If they learn you were trained as an assassin, we're in big trouble."

"I know, Simon," River said. "It won't happen again. I only did it because it was an emergency. They were going to use a sleeper word on me. I couldn't allow that. I'd have woken up on my way back to the Academy and the crew would be dead."

"Okay," Simon said. "If you have no other choice, but if there's any other way, you take it, understand?"

She nodded, sadly. "I understand."

 **(Author's Note: I hope you, the reader, like the way I created a crisis to get the crew to Haven, so the Shepherd could get off there. After two or three ficlets on Haven, the era of "Serenity" will begin, and we'll be truly in the home stretch of this story. I find my excitement returning whenever I write, the closer we come to the end, and at the same time, my sadness is increasing that I am drawing close to the end of an era in my life. It's a strange dichotomy, that's for sure. Between time commitments related to my volunteering, and things I have to do for family, I have squandered my writing buffer that has put me almost a week ahead of my publication date. This week, I intend to try and get that back. If I can, then that means in slightly over a week, I will be able to kick back and just publish the last of the series, without working every day to write it as I publish. As always, I hope you're enjoying reading my work.)**

 **(Next Time: The Open Arms Of Haven - After nearly a year aboard _Serenity_ , Shepherd Derrial Book finds a group of people who need him more.)**


	65. The Open Arms Of Haven

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 65: The Open Arms Of Haven  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Which is exactly why I need to be away from you. Because sooner or later, it [hitting Mal] won't matter to me, either."  
-Shepherd Derrial Book – "Those Left Behind" (Comic)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

"Bring us in," Mal said to Wash on the Bridge of _Serenity_ , "nice and easy."

Wash brought the ship down the shaft, deep inside the mountain overlooking Gabriel's Rest, passing by the periodic depth markers as the vessel descended deep inside, and finally the shaft opened into an enormous cavern, inside which were a half a dozen ships, and room for dozens more. Artificial lights illuminated the cave, and Wash set the Firefly down in the berth designated by Port Control, shutting down the engines once the ship had come to a rest upon the cave floor.

The crew congregated in the cargo bay, even Simon and River, who ordinarily would spend a ship's planetfall confined to _Serenity_ , but Haven was a backwater, and was never visited by the Alliance, so they would have a rare opportunity to enjoy the local hospitality.

Zoe opened the airlock door and lowered the ramp. Once that task was completed, the crew exited the vehicle, and were met by a representative from the town, a dark skinned man wearing threadbare clothing.

"Welcome to Haven, and to Gabriel's Rest," the man said. "I am Maddox, and I am a liaison with the Council."

"A pleasure," Mal said, shaking Maddox's hand. "We're looking to stay for a couple of weeks. We'll stay aboard the ship at night, but we're hoping to sample some of the local cuisine, and do some shopping, if you have stores in your town."

"We do," said Maddox as he led the group toward the elevator up to ground level. "Our people will be happy for the extra coin."

Everyone filed into a large cargo elevator. Maddox lowered the gate, and the lift rose up through solid rock and into the sun.

"You're a Shepherd," Maddox said to Book as they exited.

"Yes, I am," Book replied.

"That bodes well for us," Maddox said as he led them towards the town. "Our previous Shepherd died some four months ago. Our people haven't enjoyed a service since then. We have a fully furnished church that you're welcome to use, should you want to hold Sunday worship."

"I'd like that," Book said. "Usually, on our stops, I'm relegated to street preaching. I haven't performed a sermon in a church in nearly a year now."

"Then I can promise you a hall filled with full pews tomorrow, if you'd like. Let me show you the church," Maddox said.

 **O-O-O**

As the rest of the crew did some shopping and looked around, with Mal and Zoe attempting to sell their remaining cargo to the general store, Maddox brought Book to a large, white building with a steeple and even stained glass windows, which seemed out of place for such a poverty-stricken area.

Book stepped up to the altar and stood behind the podium, imagining a full congregation; the pews were enough for over a hundred people to sit as he spoke.

"There are living quarters upstairs, a full apartment for a Shepherd to live in," Maddox said, hopefully. "We have three couples hoping to get married, and a funeral service to be held; the body's already in the ground, but without a Shepherd, well…"

"I'll handle them all while we're here," Book said. "What happened to your last Shepherd?" he asked.

"Shepherd Davis attempted to break up a fight in the local tavern," Maddox said. "He took a knife to the belly for his trouble, and we ain't got no Doctor. Many of us are devout Christians, Shepherd Book, but we do shelter an element that can get a bit wooly at times."

"So you're telling me that if I decided to stay, I could have a congregation here, as well as a place to live?" Book asked.

"That's right," Maddox said. "You'd certainly be welcome. We actually have a desperate need for spiritual guidance, both for our residents as well as our guests."

Book looked out over the hall and closed his eyes. It looked as though he had finally found a port of harbor. He just needed to find the right time to tell the crew.

 **O-O-O**

That evening, the crew sat with a group from the town, drinking beer from the tavern and talking. Mal, Jayne, and Book smoked cigars while Jayne plucked at a guitar that someone had brought out, soothing the group with a light, easy melody as he played at the strings.

"I'm going to hold a service tomorrow morning," Book said. "I'd be honored if you all came."

"You'll forgive me if I sit this one out, Shepherd," Mal said.

"Of course, Mal. I expected as much," Book responded.

 **O-O-O**

The next morning, Shepherd Book led a funeral service for an elderly man that had died a few days before, then performed a group wedding for the three couples, much to the delight of the townsfolk, who jammed the church, with several dozen people standing in the aisles.

When the services were over, he began Sunday worship. Bettina Williams, who had played the piano for Shepherd Davis, took up her position at the keys and played as Shepherd Book led the congregation through a series of hymns. The crew of _Serenity_ , minus Mal, were sitting in the front row, along with Maddox.

Finally, the musical part of worship was over, and Book began his sermon. "Over four thousand years ago, on Earth-That-Was, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, and after forty years in the desert, the Israelites regained the Promised Land. Please turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy 34, Verse 4."

" _And the LORD said unto him, This is the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed: I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither._ "

"Moses had sinned in pride at Mount Sinai, and due to this, and the sin of the Israelites in abandoning God and creating the golden calf, God had determined that the generation that had left Egypt would not be the one to enter the land flowing with milk and honey. Moses died at the age of one hundred and twenty, in sight of the land of Israel, but he was never allowed to set foot there while he was alive. In a way, Haven, and specifically Gabriel's Rest, is a promised land, a true haven from the long arms of the law, and those who are seeking refuge. I have seen this promised land, despite my many sins, but unlike Moses, I have been allowed to enter it before I died. This will come as a shock to my shipmates, but I have talked it over with Mr. Maddox and the Council this morning, and I will be remaining behind when my ship leaves; it is my honor to remain here to become the Shepherd for Gabriel's Rest."

The collected members of _Serenity_ looked sad and surprised, except for River, but the congregation whooped and applauded wildly. After four months, they had a spiritual leader who would nurture and guide them.

When the service was over, many people clapped Shepherd Book on the back, shook his hand, and welcomed him to their home. He smiled, and was genuinely happy. The crew of _Serenity_ , who had been joined by Mal outside the church, explained to Mal that Book had announced that he would be leaving the ship and staying behind on Haven.

"It's time, Mal," Book explained. "I haven't been making much money from my street preaching, and my funds are nearly depleted, so I wouldn't have enough cash for many more journies. Also, I've been struggling with my faith since our shootout on Niska's Skyplex. I took lives there, in spite of my vows and oath. What we did was right, but it still weighs on me."

Mal held his hand out to Book, who shook it. "You will be missed, Preacher. We haven't always seen eye to eye on everything, but I've found your counsel and advice to be invaluable. If you ever want to come back, we're just a wave away."

"Thank you, Captain," Book said. "I'll keep that in mind."

That night, Maddox and the Council treated the crew of _Serenity_ to a nice meal at the tavern, to celebrate Shepherd Book taking his rightful place in the town. They dined on lamb, which the Shepherd noted with irony as they ate. Gabriel's Rest was largely surrounded by desert, but there were prairies on the other side of the mountain, which were irrigated from a river that passed through the territory, and allowed for crops and grazing grounds for flocks and herds.

"To your new flock," Mal raised his beer. "May they thrive under your gentle hand."

Everyone raised their drinks and clinked glasses together. "I hate that I have to find a new weightlifting partner, Shepherd," Jayne said.

Kaylee leaned over and hugged Book. "I'm gonna miss you, grandpa."

Book smiled. "I never married, remember?"

 **O-O-O**

That night, with the help of Jayne and Kaylee, Book moved his things out of the ship and into the apartment inside the church. "Oh, this is nice," Kaylee said, admiringly. "It's even got a nice, big CortexVision. You'll have much better trappings here than on _Serenity_."

"They have a full set of dishes and cookware, and Maddox sent over boxes of food to keep me fed for a few weeks while the church gets up and running," Book said. "And the collection plates at the service earned me more money in one day than I earned during my last six months of street preaching."

"You'll do well here," Kaylee said. "I'll be sure to come to every service as long as we're on this moon. I think we all will. Except Mal, I mean."

After the customary farewells, Jayne and Kaylee left Shepherd Book to his new home. He closed and locked the door, then reached into his pocket and pulled out his voice recorder, turning it on and raising it to his mouth.

"It is April 14th, 2518, at 2:15PM, local time on Haven. My name is Henry Evans, and I have finally come home."

 **(Author's Note: And so the Shepherd leaves the ship. His exit was never explored or adequately explained by the creators of Firefly and Serenity, except for a note that Book felt that his time on the ship was changing him, hardening him. It is also never explored how he felt after killing people on Niska's Skyplex. I figured that these factors, coupled with financial concerns, would conflate to encourage him to leave the ship, obviously on Haven, since that's canon. There's no evidence of a church (or even a town; the settlement is unnamed in the Serenity film), but I wanted to give him a true home where he could live and preach, and give him a full congregation of devout believers. The underground berths for hiding ships appears to be somewhat canon, as** _ **Serenity**_ **takes a vertical passage deep underground when they come in for a landing for the first time on Haven during the film. This isn't the end of the crew's time on Haven; they'll be there for one, possibly two more ficlets before they finally leave. I have a few more points I want to hit before we enter the movie era, and once those are done, it's off to the races, and we'll be in the home stretch. That epilogue is over 5,000 words now, as I have added some to it, and may yet add more before I finish. Writing in this fandom pleases me again, and no longer feels like a chore. Perhaps it is the fact that I know the end is nigh; I can't say for sure, but I am pleased as I write, and even more pleased when I finish. I hope you are enjoying the ride, still. And I promise not to turn anyone gay before the end. You have my solemn promise on that. *smile*)**

 **(Next Time: Leader Of The Pack - As the crew prepares to leave Haven without Shepherd Book, River is attacked by a pack of wild dogs.)**


	66. Leader Of The Pack

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 66: Leader Of The Pack  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Big golden retriever, sitting on the lawn, never took to you. Smell on you. The neighbor's pet. You did things to him; cleaned up after. Shined and polished."  
-River Tam – Episode 14, "Objects in Space"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

The crew of _Serenity_ had been at Gabriel's Rest on Haven for a little over two weeks; they had been sure to provision at the local general store, as well as to dine at the inn at least twice a day as they grew close with many of the townsfolk; their coin was welcome, as was their company. As it had been nearly three weeks since the incident with the Hands of Blue on Ares, and there were still no bulletins on the Cortex offering a bounty or ordering their arrest, it would soon be time to weigh anchor and continue about their business.

It was Sunday morning, and Mal planned to do some drinking while the rest of the crew attended Sunday worship with Shepherd Book. They were on their way to town when they heard the sound of barking in the distance.

"Dogs," Jayne said. "I ain't seen a dog since I left home. I used to have one myself when I was a kid, Dober, he was called."

River began to tense as the sound came closer. "They're killers, and they're coming our way."

Within a few minutes, as the crew was making their way between a pair of rocky outcroppings, a pack of approximately a dozen wild dogs of various breeds rounded the corner from the right, barking and growling as they ran. Before anyone else could react, River gave a little scream and rushed forward, around the outcropping to the left, out of sight. Simon cried out and began to run, and the others gave chase as well, but the dogs had already pursued her around the corner before anyone else could stop them. Simon's call of "River!" could be heard as the crew ran. Mal and Zoe had their weapons drawn, and Jayne was tugging his out of its holster as well.

In time, they came into view of River, who was standing calmly in the midst of the dogs. They all sat in a circle around her, no longer barking. Instead, they were wagging their tails and panting. River reached out as they watched, and began to pet one on the head, then another.

"River, what in the sphincter of hell is going on here?" Mal asked.

River smiled. "I'm their alpha. They're mine, now."

"River, did they bite you at all? Are you okay?" Simon asked with concern.

"I'm fine," River said, still smiling. "They won't hurt anyone anymore."

The crew resumed their trek to the town, the dogs following at River's heels. As the rest of the crew sat through Sunday worship with most of the town, Mal noted that the pack of dogs sat patiently outside the church. He went to the tavern, which was nearly empty, and ordered a beer, which came in a glass bottle. Mal then took his beer outside, then picked up a stick and spent some time playing fetch with the dogs, throwing the stick as far as he could, and watching with interest as the entire group ran with crazed enthusiasm after it. The lucky dog that would retrieve the stick each time would bound up to Mal, drop the it at his feet, and look up at him with its tongue hanging out. Mal would reward the animal by patting it on the head before picking the stick up and throwing it once more, starting the whole affair over again.

Three beers and an hour and a half later, the congregation began to exit the church, and mill about outside, some carrying wooden or metal chairs. Maddox came up to Mal. "Incredible! These dogs have been menacing the town for years. They've attacked several people, and now here they are, acting as though they're completely domesticated now."

"I've been playing fetch with them through the entire service," Mal replied. "It's the girl. She has a… way with animals. If anyone's interested, I'm sure they'd love to go to good homes."

Over the next hour, fourteen families took the dogs into their homes and hearts, and the crowd dispersed. When all but Book and the crew of _Serenity_ remained, Mal spoke to River. "Girl, how did you do that? You said those dogs were killers."

"It was easy," River said. "I just reached into their minds and took away the violence inside of them."

"Then you can do more than just Read," Mal said.

River looked at Simon uneasily. "A little," she lied.

Mal let the implications of that sink in for a moment before turning to Book. "So, Shepherd, it's been two weeks since we made planetfall on this little moon. How is your congregation holding up?"

Book smiled. "Very well," he said. I've already selected two Deacons and intend to form a council of elders. We've had even more people join us over the last two weeks than we had when I first started. Some have been forced to bring chairs from their homes and sit in the aisles just to fit inside. There's been some talk amongst the Council about putting an addition on the front of the building and expanding the chapel to accommodate the sheer numbers of followers."

"Are you happy?" Kaylee asked.

"I feel like I'm home," Book answered. "I think I've finally found what I needed ever since I realized I wanted to go on my mission. These people need me here, and more and more, I find that I need them."

Mal smiled sadly. "It's never going to be the same without you, Shepherd."

"Life is change, Mal. And something tells me that sooner or later you're going to need to lie low again, and our paths will cross once more."

"Until then, this is goodbye, Preacher. Let me buy you lunch, and we'll all say our farewells," Mal said.

"Nonsense," Book said. "The church is flush with money. Let me buy you and yours a meal for a change, and then I'll see you off."

Mal grinned. "I'd like that. Lead the way, Shepherd."

Book took point as the crew made their way to the tavern, and Book paid for a meal for all eight of them, complete with drinks. They sat at their table for hours, sharing stories and reminiscences of their times together. The laughter was free and easy, but it was tinged with a hint of gravitas, as no one could easily forget that this would be the last they would be seeing of Book, perhaps forever.

Mal had been right; it would never be the same without Book, just like things had not been the same without Inara. But they were still a family, and while some might come and go, they would always be a family, no matter how many AUs stood between them.

Many of the townsfolk had gotten word that Serenity was leaving, and had gathered outside of the tavern. The group walked the crew to the elevator into the berthing cavern, and there were many hugs and handshakes as everyone said goodbye, with Book being the last to offer his farewells. "I'll send you all a wave from time to time," he said, "assuming you're not off the grid, that is."

 _Serenity's_ crew took the elevator down in silence, and walked the distance to their ship without a word. For the second time in as many months, they were saying goodbye to one of their own. There was a profound sadness that went unspoken; what could be said that hadn't already been expressed, after all?

As Mal made his way up the ramp and into the cargo bay, he turned to his pilot. "Wash, take us out of the world," he said with finality.

 **O-O-O**

At the Academy on Osiris, The Man stepped to the reception desk. "I am an Operative of the Parliament," he said, pressing his dark-skinned fingers to the palm reader on the desk.

"Full Parliamentary Access; no restrictions," said a computerized voice. The receptionist paled at the words. "How can I help you, sir?" she asked.

"Tell me where the records room is," he said simply.

"Sub-level seven," she said. "Room 718, to the left of the elevators."

"Thank you," he said, and turned to leave, heading for the elevator banks. As he walked away, the receptionist saw there was a sword strapped to the back of his completely black outfit.

She waited a few minutes, until he had taken the elevator down, and picked up the telephone. "Please tell Doctor Matthias that I need to speak to him," she said.

 **(Author's Note: Joss Whedon described the taming of a pack of wild dogs by River Tam as a plot point he intended to portray in a future episode. It doesn't make for a full story, but it is an interesting development nonetheless, in my opinion. It also helps bookend the crew's stay on Haven, and the departure of Book from the crew, which I felt needed more than just a single story to adequately portray. Also, a note to David, who I cannot contact via PM due to his guest status: Thank you for still reading, despite your misgivings about the Kaylee and Inara story. I'm gratified that you are still with us, as I think it would be a shame if you weren't around for the epilogue. Also, with regard to your note about Book's sermon, I was raised being taught that God had not allowed Moses to enter the land of Israel because he had sinned in pride upon Mount Sinai when he spoke the words, "what** _ **I**_ **have wrought", instead of "what God hath wrought" when he destroyed the golden calf, taking personal credit for God's judgment. Right or wrong, that is what I was taught as a child. I will have to do some research, as this quote factors into the scene where Book downs the Alliance airship that is killing everyone in Gabriel's Rest during the chapter "The Death Of Henry Evans".)**

 **(Next Time: The Devil's Bounty - Before the crew can leave Haven, they must first deal with a trio of Niska's men who have stowed away and lie in wait for them.)**


	67. The Devil's Bounty

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 67: The Devil's Bounty  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Keep the money. Use it to buy a funeral. It doesn't matter where you go, or how far you fly. I will track you down, and the last thing you see will be my blade."  
-Crow – Episode 2, "The Train Job"**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

Seconds later, as the crew walked through the cargo bay, Mal looked up and spotted three men on the catwalk above. As they raised their weapons, Mal cried out in warning and shoved Kaylee roughly to the ground behind some cargo containers, and Zoe did the same to Wash. Simon and River made it behind some cover as the trio opened fire.

As the automatic fire from their assault rifles caused sparks to fly as they struck the deck of the cargo bay, the trio of _Serenity's_ fighters got their weapons out and prepared to return fire. Jayne shot one in the forehead, sending him toppling over the railing and to the deck below, dead before he hit the ground. Zoe winged another.

"Fall back!" called the leader, and they made their way into the hallway to the bunks and the Bridge as Zoe, Mal and Jayne shot at them. Unfortunately, with their pistols, they were unable to hit moving targets at such a distance, and with the catwalks in the way.

"Come on!" Mal called to Zoe and Jayne. "After them, but be careful. It could be a trap." The trio ran up the stairs and into the hallway.

"They're in the Bridge," Zoe said, spotting movement fore of their position. The group skulked slowly towards the double doors to the Bridge, and noted that while one was covering the door, the winged man was pointing his rifle at the control computer that ran the Bridge's systems. If he unloaded on it, _Serenity_ would be grounded, without parts to get her underway again.

"Jayne," Mal said, and Jayne took careful aim of the man holding the computer hostage, and shot him in the throat. He went down, hard, and the other man began firing at the doorway, but Jayne, Zoe, and Mal were taking cover behind the frame of the doors, preventing him from hitting them.

"Zoe, can you disarm him? I want him alive." Mal nodded towards the Bridge.

Zoe leaned out and broke cover for a split, and shot the man in the right shoulder. His weapon clattered to the floor as the three rushed into the Bridge, all aiming for the surviving man. "Are there any more of you on my ship?" Mal asked.

The man winced in pain. "I'm alone, now," he said. "I got a mechanic and pilot on the _Valiant_ , though," he said. "You gonna kill me?"

"We'll see," said Mal. "Who sent you?"

"We work – or worked – for Adelai Niska," he said, in obvious pain as Zoe disarmed him, taking his pistol, ammo belt, and knife. "I'm Captain of the _Valiant_."

"You came to kill us?" Mal asked.

"Only if necessary. Niska wanted as many of you alive as possible, especially you, Captain Reynolds."

Mal got on the intercom to the rest of the ship. "Wash, get up here and turn on the thrusters. The situation is under control." He then turned to Zoe and Jayne. "Get this body into the cargo bay, and then make a full search of the entire ship. He may be lying about being alone."

The four passed Wash on their way out of the Bridge, with Zoe and Jayne carrying the dead man once he too had been disarmed. Mal marched the _Valiant's_ Captain out onto the right edge of the ramp, just as he had done with Crow nearly a year before. "If you work for Niska, then you know what happened to his right hand man when they tried to kill us."

"I know you put Crow through his engine," the man said.

"You got a name?" Mal asked.

"Dahl," the Captain said. "Eddie Dahl."

"Alright, Captain Dahl. You gonna give me a good reason I shouldn't put you through my engine as well?" Mal asked.

"I have information," Dahl said. "I'm willing to trade that for my life."

"What sort of information?" Mal asked.

"Information that could save your lives," Dahl said.

"I'm listening," Mal said.

"I want your word first that you won't hurt me, that you'll let me go," Dahl said.

"Only if your information is useful," Mal replied.

Dahl sighed. "Okay, you used to have a mechanic named Alfred Bester a couple of years ago?"

"What about him?" Mal asked.

"When you fired him, he sabotaged your ship. Filed down the leads on the catalyzer. Said sooner or later it'd blow and cause a catastrophic failure of the engine."

Kaylee's jaw dropped open. "That rutting, bitter _wangbadan!_ " she exclaimed.

"Your information is a bit late," Mal said. "The catalyzer blew about five months back, almost killed us all when the explosion took out our aux life support and stopped the engine from spinning. We got a replacement catlyzer from some salvagers who were moonlighting as pirates and tried to steal this ship. I took a bullet in the belly for my trouble."

Dahl sighed again and closed his eyes. "Then I suppose that means you're going to kill me. If it's any consolation, Bester is dead now; Niska tortured him to death for his incompetence in maintaining the _Valiant's_ engine."

Mal turned his head. "Doctor, pull the slug out of this man's shoulder and stitch him up. I don't want him dying on his way back to Ezra."

In the infirmary, while Simon worked on his patient, Dahl looked confused and more than a little relieved. "My information was useless to you. Why are you letting me go? Why are you patching me up when I tried to kill you?"

"Because I need you alive. You're going to deliver a message to Niska for me. Now, my crew has killed over twenty of his men so far, including almost all the guards on his Skyplex. You tell Niska that we've only been defending ourselves so far, but if he don't call off his bounty on us, and comes after us one more time, we're going to go on the offensive. We'll not only kill everyone he sends after us, and the entire crew of their ship, but we'll storm his Skyplex again, and after all his guards are dead, we'll take our time killing _him_. He'll get to experience first hand what it's like to be tortured to death. Remind him of Shan Yu and tell him that I'll be looking forward to meeting the _real_ Niska, should he lift a finger against us again. He'll know what I mean."

Dahl closed his eyes and nodded. "I swear I'll pass along your message," he said.

When they were finished, Simon doped Dahl, and Zoe and Jayne dropped the Mule to the deck, attached its cargo trailer on the back, and loaded the pair of bodies on it. The ramp was lowered, and with Dahl at the back, and Mal holding him at gunpoint, Zoe piloted the Mule out of the ship as Jayne sat shotgun, with Vera in one hand and his revolver in the other. They made their way across the berthing cavern of Gabriel's Rest to the far end, where the _Valiant_ sat in the furthest berth down.

Mal escorted Dahl off the Mule, while Jayne and Zoe unloaded the corpses in front of the _Valiant's_ cargo airlock. "I see you again, I'll kill you, Captain Dahl," Mal warned.

"I'll be as persuasive as I can in explaining the situation to Mr. Niska," Dahl said. "I hope we don't meet again, but I do have to say that you're far kinder than I ever would have been, letting me live, patching me up."

"It's just our way," Mal said. "Niska ever tell you why he wanted us dead in the first place?"

"You skunked a job and killed one of Mr. Niska's men. That's all I know," Dahl said.

"There's more to that story than he told you," Mal explained. "We were paid to do a train job, lifting some Alliance goods off a train headed to Paradiso on Regina in the Georgia System. The job went south, and while Jayne here got the goods on _Serenity_ , Zoe and I got pinched getting off the train. We found out the Alliance goods were a badly needed medicine to treat nearly everyone in the town for a painful and degenerative condition. When we were freed, we made the choice to return the medicine and then give Niska back the money he had paid us in advance. Crow told me to keep the money and use it to buy a funeral; that he would hunt me down and kill me no matter where I went."

"That's when you put him through your engine?" Dahl asked.

"That's right," Mal said. "I don't take kindly to threats. The next guy we brought out was much more cooperative."

"That would be Billy," Dahl said. "Yeah, he would be."

"We got caught by the sheriff bringing back the medicine, but he let us go. He said something to me that I'll never forget. He said, 'These are tough times. A man might get a job; he might not look too close at what that job is. But when a man learns all the details of a situation like ours, well then he has a choice.'"

"And what did you say?" Dahl asked.

"I said that I don't reckon that he does. The sheriff smiled, and took the crates off our hands with the help of his people."

"And now I have a choice," Dahl said. "Let's hope Mr. Niska decides that he's lost enough good people trying to get his revenge on you. One thing's for sure, though… I ain't ever comin' after you and yours again. If Niska orders me to, I'll leave his employ. You're an honorable man, Captain Reynolds. If it hadn't been for fear of what Niska might do to me, I probably would have wanted to make the same choice you did about the medicine."

Dahl held out his left hand, as his right arm was in a makeshift sling, and Mal shook it. "Safe travels, Captain. Good luck finding new crew."

"And safe journey to you and yours, Captain Reynolds. Good luck to you," Dahl said, and turned toward his vessel.

A half an hour later, _Serenity_ had broken atmo, and was refueling at a depot in orbit. They noted the _Valiant_ taking up a berth to refuel as well, and waited until it had departed before releasing the docking clamps and setting a course for Beaumonde.

The crew was assembled on the Bridge as they took one last look at Haven. After a sweep across face of the planet, the ship headed out into the Black of open space, and went for hard burn.

"Bester's dead," Mal marveled. "I can't believe he was responsible for the fire in the engine room. Well, at least he got his just desserts in the end."

"Serves him right for trying to kill us all," said Jayne.

"At least we know how the fire started," Kaylee said. "I can stop blaming myself for what happened."

Mal kissed Kaylee on the top of her head. "You never should have blamed yourself in the first place, _meimei_. You aren't responsible for every little failure of the engine."

"Captain," Kaylee said, "we need to start saving up money for a new port compression coil. If that blows, it'll make what happened to the catalyzer look like a Sunday picnic."

"I'll take it under advisement, Kaylee. Right now we're just trying to keep our heads above water. If we get a good enough job that we can set something aside, we will."

"Okay, Captain," Kaylee said, with a hint of misery in her voice. Her fear about the coil was growing with every trip they made.

"Hopefully, that's the last we'll see of Niska and his men," Mal said. "We had us another near miss; but I meant what I said. Next time he messes with us, we don't stop until we kill him. Everyone understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Zoe. Several people nodded, but most were silent as they contemplated leaving Shepherd Book behind on Haven.

 **O-O-O**

Eight days later, on the Skyplex above Ezra, Captain Dahl panted in fear as he was strapped to a rack in the antechamber of Niska's office. "I have taken your message under advisement, Mr. Dahl. And I have decided that you're right; we've paid too much, there's too much blood that's been shed over Captain Reynolds and his crew. So I've decided to let _Serenity_ go. But someone must pay; I've decided that the person to pay for our failure and loss will be you. Business is still running." With those words, he pulled out a knife, and Dahl started to scream as Niska began to cut into his belly.

 **(Author's Note: With that, Exeunt Adelai Niska, a vicious and unredeemable sadist to the end. I have decided to leave him alive and unpunished for his sins, because that's the way the world works. As Soundgarden once said in their song "Black Hole Sun", "times are gone for honest men, and sometimes far too long for snakes". Too rarely in our world do the wicked pay for the evil that they do. Why should it be any different in the Firefly 'Verse? Even our heroes are criminals; as Wash says in the pilot episode, "Honey, we're crooks; if everything were alright we'd be in jail". We now have eight more stories to tell, including the epilogue; that means I have seven more to write, and as it is now Thursday, I hope to have all seven of them written before going to bed on Sunday night. That will let me sit back and recuperate from my 75-day challenge as I publish new material and wait for the inevitable PMs and reviews that will come with the epilogue. It's been a wild ride, and one that has been incredibly rewarding. If you've been enjoying your daily ritual of reading my work, please review or drop me a PM and let me know; I would love to hear the thoughts of my many readers. By the time the story is over, I will definitely top 160,000 words, which will put us at over 500 pages, by far the longest thing I have ever written, at least so far, and I expect to top 14,000 or 15,000 hits within a week of publishing the epilogue. Once that's finished, after a short break, it's on to "Tales of the Ubermensch: The Sorceress's Apprentice", and perhaps after that, another Deleted Scenes series. If you favorite me, you'll see when I publish my next Deleted Scenes, which will almost certainly be in the Star Trek fandom in one form or another. Also, I'd like to take this opportunity to plug one of my other works, which I consider to be my greatest writing from a dramatic perspective. That story is "Tales of the Ubermensch: The Series", which is technically a crossover between the free viral eBook "Tales of the Ubermensch: Hack dot World" and "Death Note". For those with more sensitive values, I have to warn that this story, which is 6 chapters and slightly over 40,000 words, is rife with foul language, and sexual situations that have earned it an M rating, and border on MA, but do not quite reach the threshold to violate the terms of service, as the descriptions are not detailed. Each chapter is loaded with trigger warnings, as this anthology series is filled with child molesters, animal murderers, and terrorists, and even features the detonation of a nuclear weapon. It's very dark, and very disturbing, as it was meant to be, but it is a gripping and exciting read, and is listed as a horror/crime fanfiction. It also has a theological commentary at its heart, and some born-again Christian friends I know have braved its horrors and reviewed it very highly, especially finding the ending fascinating and rewarding. If you've enjoyed "Firefly: Deleted Scenes", and don't mind darker or more adult fare, I strongly urge you to check it out. It doesn't require any knowledge of either fandom in order to enjoy it.)**

 **(Next Time: My Life And My Love Of It - Mal must make a decision between risking his crew's life, or condemning a town full of settlers to death.)**


	68. My Life And My Love Of It

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 68: My Life, And My Love Of It  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **It's a blackrock. Terraforming didn't hold or some such, a few settlers died."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place between Episode 14, "Objects In Space", and the "Serenity" film.)**

"Mal?" Wash's voice came over the intercom. "Mal? If you let me out, I promise I won't beat you up too badly. Or shoot you. Much."

Mal clicked off the comm as he sat at the controls of _Serenity_ and concentrated on piloting. He turned on the external communications and sent a general hail. "This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the Firefly Transport _Serenity_ to any ships in range of this signal. We are in need of assistance. Please respond."

Mal listened to the static for a while, then adjusted his heading slightly. Seven hours in the Black. Only one hour to go before it was too late.

"Mal?" Wash's voice again. "Mal? I'm not mad. Your mother and I are just worried about you."

The entire crew were locked in their bunks, and Mal had locked the twin bulkheads to the Bridge as well as the engine room to prevent anyone interfering with what he was doing.

He closed his eyes for a moment, filled with self-loathing. Despite that, he knew that he had done what he had to do. His crew came first, no matter what.

 **O-O-O**

It was a crisp evening on Briella, a Rim World. Twenty-six hours away from the nearest habitable planet or moon, they had made their drop with a man named Murphy, and had decided to spend the night enjoying the local hospitality, and then do some shopping the next morning, provisioning before moving on.

The crew took their ease in the town square, with Jayne playing his guitar while everyone sat in a circle around a fire and passed a bottle back and forth. Kaylee remarked at the incredible sunset, which was a rainbow of purple, green, red, pink, and orange, which was unlike any they had seen before. Eventually, Mal had to use the rest room, and, there being no trees in the desert in which they all sat, he climbed aboard the ship and made for his cabin. In the corridor by the bunks, Mal heard murmuring voices from the Bridge, and pulled out his revolver before stepping into the control center, weapon at the ready. Three men were hunched over the controls, apparently trying to disable the helm lockout. "What the rutting hell do you _hundans_ think you're doing to my _gorram ship?"_ he exclaimed, pistol leveled at them.

The men all turned, one of them wincing as though he had been slapped. The wincing man, in his winter years, spoke first. "I'm Elder Ault. I'm sorry, Captain, but we were trying to steal your ship."

"You're _sorry?"_ Mal asked. "Why are you trying to steal my boat?"

"Let's go outside, so I can explain our situation to your crew," Ault said. Mal followed them down into the cargo bay and out of the vessel, pistol in hand, and rested it in his lap as they all sat down around the fire.

"Our world is dying," Elder Ault said without preamble once they had set down. "We were trying to gain control of your ship so that we could evacuate the town. Within thirty hours, carbon dioxide levels will become toxic, and we'll all die.

"I thought the air tasted a little stale," said Kaylee. "What's the problem?"

"The air processors were removed a few years too early, and a major forest fire on the other side of the planet has led to the creation of huge oxygen-free 'dead zones'. They've been pushing further north every day, and in less than two days, we're going to suffocate. We need transport off this moon in a matter of hours, or there'll be no one left to bury the dead."

"How many people do you have?" Zoe asked.

"Four hundred and twenty seven," Elder Ault said.

"That's a problem," Mal said. "We have primary life support, and two auxiliary life support modules, but while we could cram that many people into the ship, even with enhanced life support, the CO2 scrubbers would keep us alive for only—" he trailed off.

River did the math. "Between seven hours and forty-five minutes and eight hours and ten minutes," she said. "Depending on the weight of the people."

"And we're over twenty-four hours from the nearest world. The only way we'd be able to make the journey and live is if we encountered one, maybe two ships on the way that could take on part of the load. We'd have to get very lucky, otherwise passengers and crew alike would die."

"Great heroism comes from great risk," the Elder said. "Will you help us, Captain Reynolds?"

 **O-O-O**

On the Bridge, Mal called out again over his hailing radio. "This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the Firefly transport Serenity. We are in urgent need of assistance and request that any ship within range of this signal please respond immediately." Again, there was naught but static. Seven hours and thirty minutes. No more than fifteen to forty minutes left. He began to despair.

"Mal?" Wash's voice over the intercom once more. "Please let us out?"

 **O-O-O**

On Briella, Mal told Elder Ault that he would sleep on the proposal to rescue the townsfolk. He then pulled Murphy aside and told him to gather his family and as many of their things as they could carry, including the loot that he had just delivered, and to set up in the passenger dorms aboard the ship, which they did. A few hours later, Mal buttoned up _Serenity_ to prevent any further attempts to commandeer the ship.

He sat in his bunk for several more hours, waiting for the townsfolk and his crew alike to all go to sleep. Once he was sure that everyone was down for the night, he locked the rest of the crew in their bunks, the same way Jubal Early had done a few months before the night he had invaded _Serenity_ , then locked the engine room before sealing himself on the Bridge.

Mal closed his eyes and sighed deeply, before punching in a password on one of the pilot's panel keyboards, unlocking the system. He then grasped the wheel and punched the buttons for upthrust. He could hear screaming and cursing outside, even over the din of the thrusters as they spun up, and then sent _Serenity_ skyward. Wash and Zoe got on the intercom and angrily demanded to know what was going on, but Mal ignored them. He punched the button for a distress beacon in the hopes that another ship would pick up the signal and render aid. He sent a personalized distress call as the ship broke atmo, and with a heavy heart, set a course for Bellmont, Briella's closest terraformed neighbor.

 **O-O-O**

On Briella, Elder Ault spoke to the townsfolk. "The Captain of _Serenity_ knew that our rescue was a long shot. With luck, or divine providence, they will encounter one or more ships in time to come back and rescue us all. I know that Captain Reynolds ain't gonna abandon us if there's a chance we can be rescued. Ladies and menfolk, let us pray."

The collected townspeople lowered their heads in prayer, many of the women and children praying through their tears at being betrayed and abandoned by _Serenity_. They did their best to have hope, to have faith, but most knew that their luck had run out, and the entire town, indeed everyone on the moon, was doomed.

 **O-O-O**

At nine hours out, Mal put his distress call on automated repeat and then unsealed the Bridge, heading aft. He unlocked the crew bunks, and Wash, Zoe, Jayne and Kaylee all climbed out of their bunks in short order. Simon and River, who had been in the Galley with Murphy and his family, heard the clamor and joined them in the corridor.

"You left them behind," Wash said.

"I did," Mal replied.

"Why?" Kaylee questioned her Captain.

"It's nine hours and five minutes since we left. No ships have come to our aid. Nobody else is out here, people. If we had taken the settlers aboard the ship, we'd all be dead by now. We would _all_ be dead. Just remember that before you judge me too harshly. I just saved all our lives."

Murphy stepped forward and shook Mal's hand. "I feel bad for the loss of the lives of my friends and townspeople, but I want to thank you for saving me, my wife, and my children. You didn't have to do that."

Mal smiled, sadly. "You're a client. We made a drop. What good would it do you to have the goods if you were dead? Besides, if we on _Serenity_ are to make a living, we need all the clients and goodwill we can get. You'll set up on another world, and in time, you'll have more work for us."

"Well," said Murphy, "regardless of your reasons, we owe you our lives."

Mal turned to Wash. "The Bridge is yours. If there is a response to our beacon in the next three hours, we should be able to get back to Briella, and, depending on the other ship's specs, we should be able to save most, if not all, of the townsfolk."

Mal descended into his bunk, and sat on his bed with his face buried in his hands as he tortured himself over what he had just done. A few hours later, Wash contacted him over the intercom. "Mal, I just wanted to let you know that we're past the window to save the colony. No response to our beacon."

"Thank you, Wash," Mal said. Wash disconnected the signal without another word.

Mal took a bottle of scotch from under his bed and spun off the top before taking a long pull from it, grimacing as he swallowed. In a matter of hours, the people of Briella would be dead, all hope lost. Their prayers would go unanswered, and he had been the one to condemn them to death. Still, he tried to console himself with the fact that any other decision wouldn't have prevented them from dying, and that his swift action had saved both his life, and the lives of his crew. There was no sense in everyone dying needlessly.

"I swear, by my life and my love of it…" Mal began to quote an ancient novel from Earth-That-Was, but couldn't stomach finishing his sentence. By the standards of that novel, he should be proud of his selfishness, and putting himself and those he loved first, but he felt only misery and self-loathing.

In time, this feeling would pass, but until then, he had a lot of soul searching to do.

 **(Author's Note: As with "Leader Of The Pack", this is a story that Joss Whedon and Tim Minear wanted to tell in a future episode of Firefly, complete with Mal abandoning the residents of the planet - whose terraforming was failing - to their deaths. I don't know much about the fine details of what that episode was supposed to be about, but what I do know, I included (the citizens trying to steal the ship after welcoming the crew, Mal saying he'd sleep on the decision as to whether or not to take the townsfolk with him, then waiting until everyone was asleep and then taking off with the crew locked in their quarters as he stole away like a thief in the night, etc.), and I hope it came out well. There are now six stories left to write, and all of them from this point on take place during or after the "Serenity" film. That's right, we have entered the endgame, the era of "Serenity". I feel a profound sadness at writing those words; I find myself wishing I was writing "Balls And Bayonets" again for the first time, so I could have the entire experience to relive all over again. I hope that you, too, are enjoying the experience, and that you will all load me down with glowing reviews and PMs once the Epilogue is up and published.)**

 **(Next Time: Let's Be Bad Guys - River joins the fighters of _Serenity_ on her first job, the robbery of a security payroll in a town's train station vault.)**


	69. Let's Be Bad Guys

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 69: Let's Be Bad Guys  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **If there's fighting, drop to the floor or run away. It's okay to leave the others to die."  
-Doctor Simon Tam – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place during the "Serenity" film.)**

In orbit of Liberty, a Rim moon, the Seeker sharpened his teeth as his people prepared to depart in their two shuttles and a small transport armed with harpoons and projectile sawblades. Only he and Fixer stayed aboard; the raiding party promised to bring back at least one alive for the two of them to eat and play with before he and Fixer would flay them and sew their skins; with luck, there would be some nice tattoos. He hated that he couldn't go with the others, but without Seeker and Fixer aboard to keep the ship in orbit, there would be nothing for them to come back to. He could hear the screaming and chanting and the beating of drums as the others boarded their respective ships; loud music filled the intercom to focus their rage like a lens. They always did this before a hunt.

Seeker knew that Fixer felt the same way; they had talked about how left out they felt, but they had critical jobs to do to keep the crew fed and their lusts sated. They were hungry, almost starving, or so it felt. It always felt like their stomachs were raging as much as they were. Seeker knew he and Fixer would have a good time when the crew came back. They always did, but as long as he remained Seeker, and as long as Fixer remained Fixer, they would forever be denied the thrill of the hunt.

Seeker sat at his piloting controls and sharpened another tooth. All of his teeth were filed down to sharp points, so much the better to eat his prey while they were still alive, to rend and tear while they screamed in agony. How he loved to hear the screaming. How he thrilled at the pleas for mercy, even before the end, how they begged him and Fixer to kill them quickly, to put them out of their misery. He reveled in the thought that in a mere few hours, he and Fixer would have one, perhaps even two or three victims to play with. He picked up a knife and slashed his cheek with it. Now he had an X-shaped cut on the right side of his face, one part of which had already healed and scarred.

He'd been told by his people that the folk in the towns and ships they'd raided had called them Reavers. He knew from his education in the BeforeTime that that was Old English for "plundering forager", and that was precisely what they were. He smiled as he thought of it, and the pleasure they all received from doing the things they did to sate their cravings. It was a savage, deadly smile, filled with razor sharp teeth and cracked, bleeding lips from all the cutting he did. Soon, _all_ his needs would be met, and then he could Seek again.

 **O-O-O**

The Mule floated across the prairie and across the fields of wind generators towards Independence, the capital of Liberty, and towards the location of their job. Aboard the Mule were Mal, who was driving the hovercraft, which was capable of doing up to eighty miles per hour across open ground, Zoe riding shotgun, and Jayne and River in the back. Jayne had loaded the rear hatch with a couple of extra clips for his submachine gun, which he had tucked under his jacket.

As they made it to the center of town, Jayne asked Mal, "What are we hoping to find here that equals the worth of a turd?"

"Security payroll," replied Mal as they pulled up outside the train station, where the vault was located, at least according to their information from Fanty and Mingo Sanchez back on Beaumonde, in the city of New Dunsmuir. "Alliance don't have the manpower to enforce the peace on every outer Rim planet; they hire out to the private firms, who will not work for credit. They get paid in cashy-money, which once a month," he pointed at the building they were pulling to a stop in front of, "resides here."

They all began to get up from their seats as Zoe prepared to lock the hovercraft down onto a parking post. "Don't that lead back to the Alliance anyhow?" Jayne asked.

"No private firm would ever report the theft of their own payroll," Zoe said, pulling a lever and clamping the anchor onto the parking post. "They'd appear weak. Might lose their contract."

"Yeah," Mal said, "we're as ghosts in this. Won't but rattle the floor."

"Shiny," Jayne said as he stood, unzipping his jacket and exposing his SMG. "Let's be bad guys."

Mal and Zoe slammed open the twin doors, which were armored, and Jayne brought up the rear while River remained outside, barefoot and waiting for the signal to enter. "Hands and knees and heads bowed down," River heard Mal say in her mind as Zoe shot out a two-way Cortex Vision hung by the ceiling that also acted as a security camera. She felt Mal put shotgun in the face of an old man that worked there, who was also holding a shotgun, but quickly dropped it. Behind Mal, Jayne picked up a man and flipped him over so that his feet were in the air, and dropped him on the head, knocking him out cold. River could feel the man go unconscious as the crowd inside the train station store began to get down on their hands and knees.

She could feel Jayne tear the man's shirt open, exposing his security uniform and his body armor. "Looks like this _is_ the place."

River heard Mal speaking to the crowd in her mind. "Y'all wanna be looking intently at your own belly buttons. I see heads start to rise, violence is going to ensue." He paused for a moment, then continued as the door opened and Zoe let River into the building.

This time she heard Mal with her own ears. "Probably guessed we mean to be thievin' here, but what we're after is not yours, so… Let's have no undue fussing."

River knew her job; Mal and Zoe had explained it to her carefully before they came to Liberty, while they were still a day out. Her brother had protested mightily, but she had agreed to do it. They knew she was a Reader, that much had become evident to them, especially over the last few months, as she had become less shy about using her mental powers that the surgeries at the Academy had given to her, and it was her task to read the minds of the people being held hostage at the train station as her crewmates cleaned out the vault, to make sure none of them pulled a weapon and started shooting at her friends. As Mal and Zoe worked with the station manager to open the vault, River stepped through the crowd of people prostrating themselves on the floor and read their minds.

She could hear the gibbering chatter of frightened people, their minds like the sound of a high wind blowing through a forest of trees, and the rustle of every leaf a was a different thought in the minds around her. Suddenly, without looking, she pointed. There was a man with a gun in the front of his pants that had decided he was going to be a hero, that he was going to pull on them and start shooting, in hopes of taking them out before they could kill him.

Zoe looked at her as River made eye contact. Zoe inclined her head, disbelievingly. _Is that really the guy?_ she asked in her mind.

River looked hard and Zoe, made a grimace as though she were irritated, and nodded her head. Zoe came up behind him as the man began to draw, slowly and clandestinely, and she cocked her Mare's Leg. "Do you know what the definition of a hero is?" she asked the man on the floor. "Someone who gets other people killed."

The man closed his eyes and began to pray that his life be spared. "You can look it up later," Zoe said, and the man sighed in relief.

 _At least there will_ be _a later,_ he thought, and then tossed his pistol across the room, where it bounced under a display case and out of sight. She patted him on the shoulder twice with her Mare's Leg and continued to monitor the hostages.

"Big, happy family," Mal said to her.

River continued to listen to the thoughts of the others; no one else seemed interested in creating any trouble, but something was wrong, she could feel it. Something outside.

The old man dialed the sliders over to their correct position to open the vault, which revealed a pair of small stacks of credit bills and some platinum coins. "At last," Zoe said, "we can retire and give up this life of crime."

Mal reached up into the top of the inside of the safe, and pulled a level, just like the Sanchez brothers had instructed him to. The floor and wall around the safe opened up, revealing a long staircase down into the basement of the facility, the true vault.

"Hey!" exclaimed Jayne, surprised.

"Y'all are Browncoats, eh? Fought for independence?" the old man asked. "Thievin' ain't exactly soldier's work."

"War's long done," Mal said. "We're all just folk now. Listen up!" Mal exclaimed this last down into the basement. "We're coming down to empty that vault!"

A voice came up the stairs from deep inside the vault. A young man's voice. "You have to give me your authorization password!"

Jayne pulled his SMG from the mount on his shoulder strap, aimed it down the stairs and pulled the trigger, sending a half a dozen bullets bouncing around down there. There was a pause for a few seconds, and then a frightened, "Okay!"

Mal and Zoe descended the stairs while Jayne and River remained behind. River was growing increasingly upset and frightened. People had heard the gunfire. There was even talk of alerting the local lawman, who would still be out and on duty, even though it was during Sunday worship. She could feel the danger growing closer, like a noose around her neck, and then suddenly, it hit her, and sent her sprawling onto her back as she could feel the rage and hate, and the pleasure of a monstrous evil.

Jayne came running over to River. "What the hell's up?" he asked, concerned. "You alright?"

River writhed upon the ground, terrified and almost unable to get the word out. "Reavers!" she exclaimed in a hoarse whisper.

Jayne went white, and abandoned all pretense of keeping an eye on the hostages. "Mal!" he called as he bounded down the stairs. "Mal!"

A minute later Jayne and Zoe came up with the bags of money, and Mal followed a half a minute later, and ordered everyone to get into the vault as quickly as they could, that the town was under a Reaver attack. As the others filed down the stairs, the four members of _Serenity's_ crew rushed outside, with Mal ordering Zoe to take the wheel.

They all climbed aboard, disengaged the anchor from the parking post, and began to move. As they lurched forward, a man from inside the train station, the one who had pulled the gun, came running out, begging them to take him with them. He grabbed the railing on the left side of the craft, and the repulsors on that side caused the vehicle to sag. Mal ordered the man back inside, into the vault, but he kept hanging on. Mal pushed him off of the Mule and he fell to the ground, and was immediately set upon by three Reavers, who began to bite into his arms and shoulders. Mal took careful aim and shot the man in the heart, putting him down like a sick animal, and the Reavers dropped him back to the ground, no longer interested in their now dead prey.

Zoe kicked the Mule into high gear, and started flying out of town as quickly as she safely could. River swallowed a bug at this point, and began to sputter and cough in disgust, just as a Reaver transport began to follow them, black smoke billowing from its rear as the lack of core containment spilled hard radiation throughout the town and over the countryside.

The chase was on.

 **(Author's Note: Six stories left, including the epilogue. I apologize for the late publication today, but I have been running behind, and had to write the ficlet today, despite constant interruptions as some members of my family drive partway across the country to come visit us and my aunt, who has incurable (but treatable) lung cancer, and has suffered two extremely mild strokes in recent months. So I'm sorry for the lateness of this publication, but as I tell people all the time, real life comes first. It has to. As for the story, I hope you liked the look inside Reaver culture, and we'll hopefully be seeing more of that before the end, since the written word gives us a glimpse into River's mind and a perspective on her powers that the televised format never allowed for. I've been worried for the longest time about what I wanted to say during the era of "Serenity", never sure exactly how I could tell compelling stories about a film designed to answer questions and wrap up plot threads, but now that we're actually here, I'm excited, and ready to build up to what I think (and hope) will be a smashing finale.)**

 **(Next Time: The Shepherd's Tale - Based on the graphic novel of the same name, Mal finally convinces Shepherd Book to tell him the truth about his past.)**


	70. The Shepherd's Tale

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 70: The Shepherd's Tale  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **I wasn't born a Shepherd, Mal."  
-Shepherd Derrial Book – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place during the "Serenity" film.)**

After three months in the Black, _Serenity_ was finally returning to Haven, and Gabriel's Rest, far sooner than any of them anticipated.

River had gone wooly while Mal and Jayne were handing over Fanty and Mingo's take in the Maidenhead on Beaumonde; she had beaten virtually everyone in the place into unconsciousness, even killed a few people, before Simon had put her out with a trigger phrase. Mr. Universe had confirmed that she had been triggered by a subliminal message broadwaved in CortexVision commercials designed to send her into a mindless rampage, but she had said one word before it had all gone wrong: "Miranda".

Now they were on the run. Someone had hacked into the Maidenhead's security feed, and it wasn't the police. Now someone knew where River was for sure, and despite Mal and Simon's arguments about River's involvement in his capers, and Simon's desire to take his sister off the ship, Mal had picked up her unconscious form and brought her back aboard. Violence had ensued as Mal assaulted Simon, saying that he had brought a " _gorram_ time bomb" onto _Serenity,_ one that could have "gone monkeyshit at the wrong word", and endangered everyone aboard.

Jayne had asked why Mal had put them all at risk by bringing her on board, and Mal didn't have an answer. His own sense of morality and ethics, his unique moral compass, wasn't always explainable or predictable. But he was usually right.

They had waved ahead, and once more Wash took the ship down the vertical shaft and into the berthing cavern. When the ramp lowered, however, they were not alone. In addition to the torches lit every few dozen feet to illuminate the berths, Shepherd Derrial Book was standing there, waiting for them. River was locked in the pantry behind the galley, tended to by her brother, but if she had been with the crew when they departed, she would have been relieved to see that he had cut his hair.

They all shook hands and embraced the Shepherd, all except for Mal, then took the elevator up and into the sunlight, greeting the townsfolk, their friends, warmly. Sitting around a campfire, they ate and drank until it got dark, and Jayne plucked at a guitar that someone had brought along, letting the music take him away to a magical land where they weren't all in imminent danger of being squashed like a cockroach by the almighty Alliance.

As the darkness set in, Mal and Book stood at the edge of the gathering, smoking cigars and talking. "Thanks for taking us in again, Shepherd," Mal said to Book.

"You got a plan?" Book asked.

"Hiding ain't a plan?" Mal asked in reply.

"It'll do you for a spell," said Book. "And the folks here'll be glad for the extra coin."

"But the Alliance'll be coming," Mal warned. "They're after this girl with a powerful will. I look to hear the tromp of their boots at any moment."

Book paused for a long moment, then turned away from the gathering and looked at Mal directly. "You won't."

He paused for a long, long moment, then continued. "This isn't a palms-up military run, Mal. No reports broadwaved, no warrants. Much as they want her, they want her hid. That means closed file. Means an Operative, which is trouble you've not known."

"I could have left her there," Mal said, reflecting on his actions. "I had an out. Hell, I had every reason to leave her lay and haul anchor."

Mal and Book were facing each other now, close, as if they were about to embrace. "It's not your way, Mal."

"I have a way?" Mal asked. "That better than a plan?"

"Only one thing's gonna walk you through this, Mal," said Book.

 _Here it comes,_ thought Mal, bracing himself for a sermon.

"Belief," finished Book, a grave look on his face.

"You know I always look to you for counsel," Mal said to Book, "but sermons make me sleepy, Shepherd. I ain't lookin' for help from on high; that's a long wait for a train don't come."

Book sighed. "When I talk about belief, why do you always assume I'm talking about God?" He paused for a long moment, and turned back to the _Serenity_ crew, still taking their ease with their friends from the town. "They'll come at you sideways," he said. "It's how they think; it's how they move. Sidle up and smile, hit you where you're weak. Sort of man they're like to send believes _hard_. Kills and never asks why."

"It's of interest to me, how much you seem to know about that world," Mal said. And it was. He'd always been intensely curious, as had many on the ship, how much Book knew about crime and the military. He'd asked for an explanation when the Shepherd had almost died on Jianying, and the Alliance had saved him. Book had told him he wanted to tell Mal his story, and perhaps, he had said, one day he would.

"Wasn't born a Shepherd, Mal," Book replied. It was pretty much what Mal had expected him to say, and the closest thing to an explanation he'd ever received.

"Have to tell me about that sometime," Mal replied.

Book took a long moment, sighing while Mal drank from his mug. "No, I don't," Book said.

Mal and Book looked at each other for a long while before Mal spoke. "You knew all about Carrion Houses and Scrap Shops, Zoe tells me that while I was detained in Paradiso, you knew who Adelai Niska was. She also says that when Wash and I got taken by Niska, you identified the rifles his men were carrying from the placement of the bullet wounds on Bosch and his men, and even the fact that they were using laser sights. Your ident card opens doors with the Alliance military, who would have ordinarily left a man to die. I think after all we've been through together, Shepherd, you owe me the honor of an explanation."

Book closed his eyes, and sighed again. Perhaps it was time to come clean after all. The Captain had done right by him, taken him in, and despite his bitterness against God and His Son, had made him a part of their family. He opened his mouth to speak, and his life's story came tumbling out.

 **O-O-O**

Born Henry Evans on Jianying, he had never known his mother, and feared and loathed his drunkard of a father. Music was his only escape from the near-daily beatings he endured, and one day, when his father had beaten him one too many times, then passed out, young Henry had gathered up all his belongings and stole away into the night, working in town for a year in order to save up enough money to book passage on a ship to a civilized world and still have enough to set himself up in a decent life.

He soon took to crime, mostly burglary and muggings, with the occasional armed robbery. When his partner and roommate had been caught, he want on the lam, but the police officer that caught up with him explained that he was too useful to the Independent movement to just throw in jail, and recruited him as an operative. The Alliance was building warships by the hundreds, and war was coming; they would need someone like Henry to further their goals and keep the Independent Worlds free.

In the years that followed, Henry worked in covert ops, and would routinely indulge his "hobby", beating up purple bellies with the martial arts that his friends in the Independents had trained him to use. One night, at a cell meeting, Evans was recruited for a special mission, one that he had been the only volunteer for. His right eye was removed, and replaced with a special prosthetic designed to clandestinely transmit everything it saw back to the Independent Military Intelligence, and he was to travel to the Core and infiltrate the Alliance military so that he could gain access to classified information, that the Independents would then use to thwart the Alliance war effort. Henry followed another dark-skinned man who had a similar appearance to his, and strangled him in an alley before taking his ident card. The name of his victim was "Derrial Book".

Henry Evans, now Derrial Book, quickly made his way up the ranks as an officer in the Alliance military, working in the Intelligence Division, which made him an ideal candidate to receive and digest the Alliance's most sensitive communiqués and war plans. By day, Book's job was to torture Independent spies until they broke, and extract all the information he could get out of them before they were to be executed for their crimes. He had been very, very good at what he did, and had murdered dozens of men and women that were secretly his allies in the process, but it cemented his cover, and put him beyond suspicion by his superiors, who noted he did his job with a particular zeal. And it was true. He actually was glad to kill his victims, because he could at last be merciful to them, and he always made it quick and painless, while his comrades merely thought he was being efficient and professional.

Towards the end of the war, Book oversaw war plans and offered his commentary, and even planned offensives. Working aboard the _I.A.V. Cortez,_ he planned an operation designed to take six planets simultaneously and end the war in a single day. Unfortunately for the Alliance, the Independents knew of the war plans thanks to Book's prosthetic eye, and were lying in wait for the Alliance soliders, ambushing them, resulting in the loss or capture of over 120,000 Alliance soldiers, and the destruction of the _I.A.V. Alexander,_ an Alliance Dreadnought. The Captain of the _Cortez_ accused Book of seeking personal glory, and had decided that there must have been a mole, since the offensive was anticipated. Stripping Book of his insignia, the Captain discharged him on the spot, without a trial, and had him shoved aboard a lifeboat before launching it into space. Book wandered through space for weeks before making planetfall onto a moon, and he worked for nearly a half a year, until after the war was over, in order to earn enough for passage to Persephone.

Not knowing what else to do, he spent the last of his money in a bar, getting drunk, and, with nothing but the clothes on his back, he was dragged outside and beaten savagely by a former officer of the _I.A.V. Alexander,_ who had recognized him, punishing him for the loss of his ship before leaving him bleeding on the sidewalk. Miserable, penniless and alone, he found himself in front of the Southdown Abbey, and after seeing the neon cross in the window, made his way inside, thus beginning his life as a Preacher and ending a life of crime, murder, and treason.

 **O-O-O**

"I spent years in the abbey," Book said, "learning the ways of Christ and God the Father, and turned my back on everything that I had been before."

Mal was in awe. "I can't believe you were actually fighting on the side of the Independents all this time. When the Alliance helped save your life, Zoe and I speculated that you might have had ties to them, but I never imagined this, that you had been a double agent and that we were actually brothers in arms."

"We are brothers, Mal. Brothers in Christ, and yes, brothers of the Independent movement as well," Book said.

"I want to shake your hand, Preacher," Mal said. "I ain't never done it before, and as a fellow soldier, I want to do it as a sign of respect and admiration for what you've been through, and what you sacrificed to help us in the war effort." Mal held out his hand, and Book took it in his. They shook hands firmly, holding hands for a long moment before they broke contact.

"I promise not to tell the others for as long as you're alive, Shepherd," Mal said. "Your secret is safe with me until that day."

 **(Author's Note: The Shepherd's Tale, the graphic novel giving background on everyone's favorite Preacher, was published in 2010, and gives us ample backstory on Derrial Book/Henry Evans. It is the only comic that I consider to be worthy of the Firefly/Serenity name, and with a few embellishments to keep it in line with my timeline and stories already published, it is written more or less as it appears in the comic. I did make the body count higher, however, to increase Book's importance in the war, and make it more believable that he be discharged in the manner in which he was, and I also altered the timeline so that his discharge was right at the end of the war, as described in "Losing My Religion". I hope you enjoyed the retelling, and yes, since so much of the story is based on the graphic novel, I decided to pay it homage by entitling the chapter after the comic. For those of you previously unaware of the backstory of Shepherd Book, this story is canon, so I hope you appreciate knowing the most important tale the series never got a chance to tell us. The movie had the opportunity to tell the story, but squandered it, probably because they didn't want to insert a talky, expositionary scene, and didn't have the budget to show it. Still, the written word knows no boundaries of budget, so at last the story can be told.)**

 **(Next Time: Trap? - Inara Serra meets the Operative and is faced with an impossible decision: betray the men and women of _Serenity_ , or face the death of all the residents of House Hadith, including her own.)**


	71. Trap?

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 70: Trap?  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Did you see us fight?"  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place during the "Serenity" film.)**

Inara lay in her bed in the Training House on New Bedford, and opened her eyes slowly as she could feel Sheydra crawling into bed with her, and woke her with a kiss. As Inara sat up, Sheydra climbed off of her and poured two goblets of water, one of which was for Inara, once she had gotten out of bed.

Sheydra was the House Priestess, and the House was relatively new, with only Inara and a few other transplants working as full Companions as the trainees, who by Core standards were much too old to begin training, learned to ply their trade on the local population of the planet.

Inara opened the shutters to the door, and stood on the terrace, while Sheydra approached. "They love you," Sheydra said simply, handing Inara a goblet. "The girls. They've learned more from you in these last months than the rest of us could show them in two years."

Inara took a sip. "They're very sweet," she said, "but they're not Companions."

Sheydra was concerned. "You've no hope for them?" she asked as two initiates entered the room with linens and began to remake Inara's bed, as was their duty each morning.

"On Sihnon," Inara said, "we started training at twelve, remember? Years of discipline and preparation before the physical act of pleasure was even mentioned. Most of these girls-"

"They're of good families, with the highest academic-" Sheydra began, but was interrupted.

"Control," Inara broke in, "was the first lesson. And the last. And these worlds are not like the Central Planets. There's barbarism hidden in the most civil weeds. Men of the highest standing who don't know the difference between a Comapnion and a common whore. It's unsafe."

"All the more reason the girls look to you," Sheydra replied. "You've seen so much. You're a figure of great romance to them."

"Great romance has nothing to do with being a Companion, Sheydra, you should know better," Inara said, sitting down.

Sheydra chuckled. "I'm not the one who had a torrid affair with a pirate."

"A who? With a what?" Inara was on her feet again, half confused, half outraged.

"It's the talk of the House," Sheydra said. "The girls all trade stories in the dorms at night."

"I didn't have a… pirate!" Inara exclaimed.

"In one of the stories, you make love in a burning temple. I think that's my favorite," Sheydra said.

"This is unbearable! Captain Reynolds is no pirate, he's a petty thief. And he never laid a finger on me! All he did was rent me a shuttle and be very annoying! _Cho be tu cho!"_ Inara cursed as she stormed off the terrace and back into her room.

"Don't worry, the stories will fade," Shaydra offered by way of consolation. "And your Captain Reynolds has probably gotten himself blown up by this time."

Shaydra wandered off, leaving Inara to her thoughts.

 **O-O-O**

Later that same day, in the afternoon, once classes were finished, the girls went about their business, and Inara exited the front doors of the House and watched the young, dark-skinned man ascend the mountainside stairs that led to the House. She carried on watching him with interest as he slowly made his way up the long flights of stone steps until he finally reached the top some twenty minutes later.

"Inara Serra, I presume?" he asked.

"Yes, I am Inara," the Companion said, surprised that the man would know her name.

"I've come to speak to you," he said. "Is there somewhere that we may speak in private?"

"Of course," she said with a smile. "This way," she welcomed him inside, indicating that he take the corridor to the left. He entered the building, and she led him down various corridors to her chambers, and upon his entry she closed the large double doors.

"Now, what can I do for you, Mister…" she implied a question as her voice trailed off.

"I have no name," the Operative said. "I am an Operative of the Parliament, an agent of the Alliance, of civilization. I am looking for River Tam."

Inara's confused expression was perfectly acted; control, as Inara had said earlier, was the first lesson, and the last. "River Tam? Who is that?"

The Operative smiled. "How well you know, Miss. I will not abide games. I know that you spent nearly a year and a half on the Firefly transport Serenity, and that she has been hiding aboard for nearly half that time. "I ask nothing more of you than the fisherman asks of the worm. You will entice Captain Reynolds and _Serenity_ here, and allow me to do my job."

All pretense of friendliness was gone from Inara's face. "And if I refuse?" she asked.

"I have a platoon of men taking up positions around the House as we speak. At my word, they will storm the building, and kill everyone inside. When they are done killing your beloved girls, and your cherished Sheydra, I will take my time dealing with you."

Inara scowled. "You, who claim to be an agent of civilization, would do something so barbaric?"

"I said I was an agent of civilization, Miss Serra. I never said I myself was civilized." The Operative withdrew his sword, and rested it at his side. "The choice is yours."

Inara closed her eyes. She felt she had no choice, and the Operative knew it. "Very well," she said. "I will do as you ask."

 **O-O-O**

On board _Serenity_ , Mal was woken out of a sound sleep as the ship lay nestled in the berthing cavern at Gabriel's Rest on Haven. It was Wash's voice over the intercom. "Mal, you up? I got a wave, I'ma bounce it down to you."

Groggily, Mal got to his feet and walked to the other end of the room, where the screen of the Cortex Terminal was. He was bare chested, the scars of his various jobs and wounds from the war evident all over his exposed flesh. He pushed the button on the screen, which then displayed Inara's face.

"Inara," Mal said, surprised.

"I, uh," Inara said, looking over Mal's bare chest. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, it's…" Mal began, then paused, "as good as any. How's your world?"

"Cold," Inara said. "It's autumn here."

"Still at the Training House?" Mal asked.

Inara said nothing, then cleared her throat.

"So," Mal continued. "What occasions the wave? Not that to see you ain't…" he trailed off again. "Well, you look very fine."

"Oh, uh," Inara paused again. "Thank you."

"So, what was the…" Mal had trouble completing his sentences with Inara, and she was having similar issues. Something was clearly wrong.

"Oh, I guess we're having something of a problem with the locals," Inara said. "And I thought, maybe…"

"You could use a gun hand," Mal finished.

"I'm hoping not," Inara said. "But if you happen to be close at all, you… The crew could take your ease here for a while, and there'd be payment."

"Well, it would be…" Mal began, "I mean, I'd like to… Kaylee's been missing you something fierce."

"Oh, I miss her, too," Inara said. "I even miss my shuttle, occasionally."

"Yeah, you left… Got some of your stuff in a trunk. I never did get a chance to drop it off."

"Oh, I uh, I didn't mean to leave… stuff."

"I didn't look through the… stuff. I just… Just sundries, I imagine. So, I'll send you a wave just as soon as I can."

"Thank you," said Inara, and Mal pushed the button again, disconnecting the wave.

Mal made his way to the Bridge, where the rest of the crew, minus Simon and River, were waiting. River was handcuffed to the floor in the pantry, and Simon was seeing to her care.

"So, Inara," Wash said as Mal entered the Bridge. "Nice to see her again."

"So, trap?" Zoe asked Mal.

"Trap," confirmed Mal.

"We goin' in?" Zoe asked.

"Well, it ain't but a few hours out," said Mal.

"Yeah," said Wash, "but remember the part where it's a trap?"

Mal was quick to respond. "If that's the case, then Inara's already caught in it. She wouldn't set us up willing. Might be we get a shot at seeing who's turning these wheels. We go in."

Kaylee spoke up. "But how can you be sure Inara don't just wanna see you? Sometimes people have feelings." She paused and gave Mal a curious look. "I'm referring here to people."

"Y'all were watching, I take it?" Mal asked.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause amongst the crew. "Yes," Kaylee finally said, unable to look Mal in the eye.

"You see us fight?" Mal asked.

"No," Kaylee said, able to meet Mal's gaze at last.

"Trap," Mal said simply, then turned and walked off.

 **O-O-O**

The next morning, Inara was kneeling before a statue of Buddha, lighting incense in her room, when a cloaked figure came up beside her. "Dear Buddha," he said. "Please bring me a pony, and a plastic rocket, and-"

"Mal!" Inara exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Mal looked at her through the tassels on his hood. "Well, you invited me."

"I never thought you'd be stupid enough to actually come!"

"Well, that makes you kind of a tease, doesn't it?"

"You knew my invitation wasn't on the level," Inara said, getting up as Mal pulled back his hood.

"Which led me to conclude that you must be in some kind of trouble."

"I'm fine," Inara spat. "I'm… _giddy!"_

"For someone schooled in telling a man what he wants to hear," Mal said, "you ain't much of a liar."

"Mal, you cannot handle this man," Inara warned.

And with that, the Operate opened the door and stepped inside. Inara turned toward him, and even Mal inclined his head towards the door.

"I have to say, Captain, that I am impressed that you would come for her yourself, and that you would make it this far in… that outfit."

The trap had been sprung. All Mal was waiting for were the teeth of the trap's jaws to come slamming down upon his ankle. But he had made preparations. He had a plan, and it involved saving both his and Inara's lives.

 **(Author's Note: The scene with Sheydra and Inara at the beginning of the chapter is verbatim from an actual deleted scene from the "Serenity" film. The scene of the wave from Inara, the discussion with the crew afterwards, and Mal's meeting the Operative are more or less verbatim from the film, with my spin on them. I apologize for using so much of the original source material, but in some chapters there is little I can do but float like a leaf on the wind, and follow my instincts to tell the story through retelling of canon. There will be some of that in the intervening chapters before the epilogue, and for that, I'm sorry, but it's hard telling this story through the lens of the film, which spends so much of its time wrapping up loose ends. I do promise, however, that the epilogue itself, is almost completely new, and features material so foreign to the Firefly series and the Serenity film, that some of it literally takes place decades in the future. If there is any disappointment in the final few chapters, I promise that the epilogue will more than make up for it, and I hope you are anticipating it with as much excitement as I feel as I wait on pins and needles to publish it. I also would like to apologize for publishing later in the mornings than I would ordinarily like, but with the absence of my buffer of pre-written stories, I have found a new and exciting routine in the waning days of Firefly: Deleted Scenes, and that is to set my alarm for six in the morning, then getting up and writing the day's chapter first thing in the AM. It's fun, it's thrilling, and rather than writing ahead, it gives me a rush of adrenaline as I rush to create compelling and exciting prose while I am still waking up. I find that this is the best time for me to create, and intend to do as much of my writing as possible first thing in the morning from now on.)**

 **(Next Time: The Death Of Henry Evans - Henry Evans attempts to save the people of Gabriel's Rest on Haven from an Alliance gunship as it slaughters the townsfolk.)**


	72. The Death Of Henry Evans

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 72: The Death Of Henry Evans  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Not very Christian of me."  
-Shepherd Derrial Book – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place during the "Serenity" film.)**

Shepherd Derrial Book was leading the Sunday Worship service on a brisk morning in Gabriel's Rest on Haven; the sun was rising in the southeast, but the temperature had not yet risen enough to turn the church into the oven it so often became in the afternoon. Bettina was playing the piano as she Shepherd and his congregation sang, giving glory to Christ for his love and the sacrifice that empowered their salvation, when it happened.

There was a noise outside, the sound of a ship. Such things were not unusual in Gabriel's Rest, as ships came and went all the time, and at all hours, but then something went very, very wrong. Without warning, the din of an explosion rocked the building and nearly deafened everyone inside. When the dust that rained down from the rafters had settled, and the sound of another, more distant explosion sounded, Shepherd Book shouted for everyone to leave at once, and to head for their homes. The town was under attack.

Book knew that the settlement had a single anti-air cannon, bought from a military surplus store on Deadwood after the war, and as he ran out of the church amidst the throng, the thought of a Reaver attack squeezed his heart with fear. Once outside, he stood as the others ran for shelter, and his terror at the thought of Reavers was dispelled once he saw the Alliance gunship, black and deadly, fire another rocket at one of the buildings of the factory complex; then, seeing the crowd, it started to take up a new position and began unleashing minigun fire upon the people, mowing them down as they ran. Suddenly, as Book ran across the town square, another rocket was unleashed and flattened the church, with at least half the congregation still inside.

Book held back his tears at the loss of his faithful; perhaps when it was all over, they could sift through the rubble for survivors, assuming anyone was left alive. As he watched, still moving towards the cannon at the edge of town, Timmy McGuire, the little dark boy who always wore a helmet on his head, even in church, was gunned down. Book screamed in rage as he rushed forward. People fell around him, left and right, and then it was his turn.

A bullet, a high caliber round, punched a hole in his gut and sent him sprawling to the ground. He waited until the gunfire moved on to a different area of the town before he tried to get back up; fortunately, his spine was intact, and he could still move his legs. He was mortally wounded, he knew that much, and nothing short of a miracle would save him now. He begged the Lord in his mind that he be allowed to live at least long enough to stop the gunship.

Finally, he made it to the cannon, and settled painfully into the seat, powering it up. It was an Atlas K-28 trans-atmospheric canon, useable in both atmo conditions and mountable on Skyplexes for use in the vacuum of space; it fired highly explosive rounds and had an auto-reload feature. He just hoped the batteries were charged. To his relief, the cannon's targeting screen lit up, and he turned the cranks to aim the target reticule at the hovering gunship.

 _This is my final act,_ he thought. _My last act is to take a life, once again. How is it that I can never escape my history of violence? Is this all I am ultimately good for?_

He fired four rounds, punching holes in the fuselage and the engines of the craft, which began to smoke as it spun in. It tried to make it out of town, the pilot obviously knowing that his vessel had been critically damaged, but lasted just long enough to cross the edge of town before it plowed into the ground with a deafening roar.

 _I did it,_ he thought. _I killed the ship that killed us._

He looked out across the square, and saw nothing but bodies. No one was moving. The buildings were all on fire, and everyone appeared dead. His flock. His precious flock. He crawled slowly out of the seat and took two steps towards the square in hopes of finding survivors, before he crumpled to the ground and just lay there, panting. He could taste blood in his mouth; the round that hit him must have nicked a lung, he realized as his labored breathing became more and more ragged.

The town was dead; every home he could see was bombed and on fire, and the church was flattened and also burning. They had all been killed. From where he lay, Book could see tiny Timmy McGuire, and his little helmet, dead in the dirt like a rabid dog shot in the street. And as he looked, he knew that it was because of _Serenity_ that this had happened, that the Alliance was finally getting serious in their search for River Tam, that they were killing off anyone who had helped Captain Reynolds and his crew. Had they not come here, had he not stayed, these people would still be alive.

All because of an Operative. Now that an Operative of the Parliament was finally directly involved, the stakes had been raised, and people were dying by the hundreds, all because of the Tams.

Book thought of the day he had first met River Tam, and the desire he felt deep in his heart to help her, to continue his work as an agent of the Independents, and protect her from those monsters in the Alliance. Part of him knew he had done the right thing in helping her, but looking at the death toll, a selfish part of him regretted it. So many innocent people, dead. All over a single girl.

He smiled ruefully as he remembered her tearing pages out of his Bible, the Book of Genesis, it was. That book now lay buried under the remains of the church, and he would never see it again, with all the pages taped back into Genesis. He chuckled slightly and coughed up some blood. That was the day he had told River about his faith, and the transformative power of that faith.

He prayed to God that his greatest fear, to die alone, would not come to pass. He hoped that his faith was strong enough for his prayer to be answered, but in his dying hours, his faith was being tested, and he was afraid both of his impending death, and the question of his salvation as his trust in Christ wavered.

He closed his eyes, and continued to pray as he lay there in a growing pool of his own blood, alone in the dirt, and surrounded by bodies. He cursed the Alliance, and prayed that it would be punished for what it had done here, for all the lives it had taken. For all the evil it had done, he damned it all, and begged the Lord to see that justice was done, that those in the government – and what was a government but a group of people, notably ungoverned, as he had once told Simon – be punished for their deeds.

This was his Gethsemane, and he suddenly understood what Mal had gone through when the war had been lost; he realized without a doubt what it was that had caused Mal to abandon his faith. Part of him wanted to curse God, and also throw it all away in spite of the fact that he was dying, that God would be judging him this very day, but his faith was strong, and he smiled, his eyes still closed, and knew that he would not abandon Christ, and that despite the murders he had committed, despite his treasons, and despite even the act of shooting down the Alliance gunship, that his salvation was assured.

Now, if only someone would come to him, and rescue him from that which he most feared, he would know God's love, that the Lord would send someone to comfort him in his darkest hour.

His eyes fluttered open as he heard a sound overhead; it was another ship. If it was a second gunship, he lacked the strength to shoot it down, too. He tried to turn his head, but couldn't quite manage it. Finally, after several seconds of worry, he saw it. It was _Serenity_ , returned from New Bedford, possibly even with Inara onboard. He smiled at the thought that she might have returned to her ship and her crew, that Mal had rescued her from the Operative's trap.

He felt consolation, and his faith was strengthened by the knowledge that if he could hold on for just a few more minutes, he would not die alone; that Mal would come for him. Mal, who knew his secret, and the truth of his life and his past. Mal was coming for him.

And he was happy.

The ship landed, and as he watched, the crew rushed down the ramp and started sweeping the area in a search for survivors. He tried to cry out, but couldn't summon the strength. It didn't matter, however, because he knew that they would find him eventually. He saw Mal growing closer, and closed his eyes; he needed a moment of rest to prepare him for the moment that they would share, Shepherd Derrial Book's – Henry Evans's – final moment.

A soft smile played upon the Shepherd's face as he conserved his strength. God had not abandoned him; he had heard Book's prayer after all. And if God was just and merciful, the rest of his prayer, for the punishment and destruction of the Alliance, would be answered as well.

 **(Author's Note: And with those sad words,** _ **Exeunt**_ **Shepherd Book. I always felt that Book got the short end of the stick in the film, receiving the least amount of screen time, despite being one of the most cherished and interesting, not to mention mysterious, characters in the series. Joss Whedon said that he killed off both Book and Wash because neither Ron Glass nor Alan Tudyk were able to commit to doing sequels in their contract negotiations, but even so, they should have kept Book on the ship for the entire movie, giving him an opportunity to advise Mal, and give the crew the moral compass that so informed them during the series. Despite my lack of faith, I always felt that Book was an incredibly dynamic individual, and I had a tremendous respect for him. One thing that remains a mystery for me, and one even I was unable to answer in the Deleted Scenes – because I didn't know where to begin to extrapolate the answer – was Book's inner monologue that River gleaned in Episode 14, "Objects in Space", in which he thought of Jayne, "I don't give half a hump if you're innocent or not. So where does that put you?" I always wanted to know how he truly felt about Jayne, and indicated in earlier chapters, that despite Book's apparent friendship with Jayne, he secretly despised Jayne for his love of violence and murder. In telling Book's stories, I couldn't do the canon justice without embracing his faith, since it is such an integral part of the character, perhaps the most prominent and important element of his personality in the Firefly and Serenity 'Verse. As such, I have striven to show and to extrapolate Book's inner struggles with his faith and his ethics, and hope I have stayed true to the character, even going beyond what the show was willing to portray, given the nature of network standards regarding religion and the portrayal of religious sensibilities. I have been praised for going so far as to remain true to Book's faith, despite my atheism, and I have taken this praise as both extremely flattering, as well as humbling. I have also made a number of Christian friends as a result of writing this story, in part for my refusal to do the "atheist thing" and gloss over Book's faith. I cherish these friendships, and am glad that I have made so many people happy for my accuracy in allowing the reader to share in Book's faith.)**

 **(Next Time: I Am A Leaf On The Wind - Wash pilots _Serenity_ through a massive space battle between the Alliance and Reaver fleets in hopes of reaching Mr. Universe's moon and broadwaving the evidence of the Reavers' creation from Miranda.)**


	73. I Am A Leaf On The Wind

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 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 73: I Am A Leaf On The Wind  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **So no more running. I aim to misbehave."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place during the "Serenity" film.)**

 _Serenity,_ disguised as an abomination, a Reaver ship, lifted off from Miranda, a world of over 30 million dead. Splashed across its hull was red paint, made to look like the blood of their "victims", and across its prow were cabled the skeletons of several of the settlers from Gabriel's Rest on Haven, at the center of which were the remains of Shepherd Derrial Book, or Henry Evans, as Mal had come to know him. The night before, as they readied themselves physically and emotionally for their suicide run to Mr. Universe, Mal had told them all of the Shepherd's true story, having kept his promise to stay silent about the true identity of Book until the day he died. That night, Zoe and Wash had made love for the first time in weeks, because they knew there was a good chance that they might not survive to see another day after tomorrow, that this night of passion might be their last.

As the ship rose into the sky, its vibrations shook loose a piece of technology in Book's skull, as his prosthetic eye came loose from his right socket and fell to the ground, shattering upon the pavement.

"So now I'm asking more of you than I have before," Mal had told his crew the previous afternoon, "maybe all."

"I aim to misbehave," he had said. They all did. They were going to break the back of the Alliance with the broadwave of the evidence they had retrieved on Miranda, if they could. It would rattle the very foundations of their civilization, if they could get past the Alliance fleet that was undoubtedly waiting for them beyond the ion cloud that surrounded Mr. Universe's moon.

Wash felt a stab of fear as they broke orbit and headed out into open space. There was a fleet of Reaver ships between them and their destination. Thousands of them, ranging from small scout ships to ancient colony ships dozens of miles long, the same ships that had made the multigenerational trek from Earth-That-Was to the System, and had been repurposed for settling large quantities of people to planets like Miranda. They stayed in orbit, as they were incapable of making planetfall; they had been constructed in space, and lived their entire lives there. Wash wondered how many Reavers were aboard, and how the clans kept them fed.

"Beginning EVA," said Mal as he stepped out of the dorsal airlock, all suited up and ready to go. He walked across the dorsal hull and took his seat in the anti-air cannon, strapping in; he was grateful that it did not need oxygen to fire: their plan would be impossible without that important fact.

They passed through the fleet apparently unnoticed, as they looked like a Reaver ship, right down to the radiation trail they left in their wake. "Wash, we almost through?" Mal asked. A scout ship had powered up its engines and had begun to follow them. It pulled alongside them and was examining the ship closely.

"Now!" Wash cried as they were about to exit the fleet's perimeter. Mal turned the cranks, and centered his targeting reticule on the scout ship, opening fire. After a few shots, the ship exploded, and the surrounding ships began to power up.

"Now!" Mal screamed into his suit's comm. "Go!"

The ship went for full burn, and sped off as dozens of Reaver ships gave chase. Once the ship was at full acceleration, Mal unstrapped himself and walked back to the airlock, discarding his suit and heading for the Bridge.

"They're in pursuit, as you expected," Wash informed Mal, bringing up the rear vid. "At least three dozen ships of all sizes, including a pair of those colony ships. If you've underestimated the size of the force waiting for us, they'll make quick work of us once they've wiped out the Alliance."

"It's a calculated risk," Mal said. "Have faith, Wash."

Zoe turned to Mal with a look of disbelief on her face, that he of all people should say such a thing. She reached into her pocket and toyed with an object inside that had been there ever since their last visit to Haven.

 **O-O-O**

Aboard the Reaver ships, thunderous music played, almost drowning out the sound of screaming and chanting, and the sound of drums as the raiding parties prepared to feed and indulge their lusts. The Seekers piloted their ships, in hot pursuit of the tiny intruder that had dared to penetrate their sphere. There wasn't enough aboard the Firefly for all of them, but with luck, there would be more food and fun when they got wherever the tiny ship was going.

 **O-O-O**

It took them six hours to reach Mr. Universe's moon, but the mottled blue cloud surrounding the world told them that they had indeed reached the right place. "Take it at full speed," Mal said.

"If that cloud's too dense, she'll break apart," Wash warned his Captain.

"And if we slow down, we'll end up as a feast for the ships chasing us," Mal replied.

"Good point," Wash offered.

There was a sickening lurch as the intertial cancellers and the grav drive struggled to keep up with the shock of the vessel entering the cloud. There was no sign of the Reaver ships on rear vid, but no one had any doubt that they were still pursuing. After a few minutes, the cloud began to thin, and then they were through, the ship rushing headlong toward at least two dozen Alliance ships, including five frigates and a Dreadnought, the _I.A.V. Columbia_.

"Keep her straight and steady," Mal said, and Wash fought the urge to break course and head into evasive maneuvers. The Dreadnought's weapons array began to slide into position, as its particle cannons and missile launchers came into view.

"Ships are preparing to fire, Mal," Wash said. Mal's eyes were locked on to the rear vid. "We're now in range."

"Yes!" Mal cried, as the fleet of Reaver ships broke through the cloud and began to spread out once they realized that there was an entire opposing fleet in front of them. A few seconds later, the Alliance fleet opened fire.

"Break!" Mal yelled, and Wash narrowly dodged a clutch of missiles headed towards the Reaver fleet. Particle cannons opened fire as well as the Reavers quickly closed the distance with their Alliance counterparts. Wash corkscrewed the ship and began to weave their way between the massive vessels. They pulled alongside a Reaver ship, and one of the frigates opened up repeatedly with their particle cannons, trying to hit the Firefly, but blasted the hull of the Reavers instead. A scout ship attached a grapple to a smaller Alliance ship and the competing thrusters sent the pair of vessels into a spin that increased in velocity, finally overpowering the grav drive's protection and killing all aboard with the massive G-forces of the rotation.

Despite the Captain's protests, Wash flew _Serenity_ through a group of massive explosions and then narrowly missed the Dreadnought, sending the boat spiraling toward the planet as a Reaver raiding ship gave chase. A colony ship collided with the _Columbia,_ breaking her in half and cracking their core. Several seconds later, the ship exploded as several escape pods attempted to get clear of the destruction before they too were consumed. A large chunk of the _Columbia's_ hull cut a large gouge out of the dorsal hull of the _I.A.V. Helios,_ nearly breaking it in half, too, and sending it spiraling down toward the planet, with several Reaver ships giving chase as well.

Wash, despite being an expert pilot, perhaps even a virtuoso when it came to the intricacies of flying, had told Mal and Zoe that they'd be surprised at the maneuverability they could get out of _Serenity_ once he had made his modifications, and it was true. He had never done such intricate maneuvers, and had been genuinely surprised himself at how well the tiny ship had handled, flying circles around the larger craft. Mal's plan had worked, and they had made it past both the fleets, now locked in mortal combat in orbit above. He smiled and whispered to himself once more, "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

Suddenly, a beam lanced out and nearly struck them, going wide to the port.

 **O-O-O**

Aboard the Reaver ship giving chase, Seeker fired again and got on the intercom. "The food is ahead. I am shooting to disable, and then they will be ours! Rejoice, my brothers and sisters, our feast is at hand!"

A great cry rose up throughout the ship, and the banging of the drums became louder and faster, as did the chanting. Seeker fired once more and this time, he hit the Firefly, sending it into a tailspin. Assuming the crew survived the crash, they would eat well this day.

 **O-O-O**

Wash managed to get auxiliary power online, but only at twenty percent, and he did his best to glide the ship in toward the runway at Mr. Universe's complex in what would be his first crash landing. The first touchdown tore the landing struts, or "legs" clean off of the ship, and it bounced several times before coming to a rest on the tarmac while it skidded toward the hangar.

Wash applied the power from the thrusters asymmetrically in an attempt to keep the vessel from skidding off the side of the runway. He kept her centered, but she was still moving too fast, and slid at a breakneck speed into the hangar. He winced with visible pain as first one, then the other thruster was ripped from the sides of _Serenity,_ and she finally skidded off the end of the tarmac and into a depression in the hangar's floor, spinning around in the process. He had done it. He had brought her safely down.

Mal and Zoe, both strapped in at the copilot and navigator's stations respectively, were completely silent, as was he. As the adrenaline began to subside, Wash whispered once more, "I am a leaf on the wind, watch how-"

And that was as far as he got, as a Reaver harpoon lanced through the pilot's window and through Wash's heart, pinning him to the chair and killing him almost instantly. His head slumped forward as he began to lose consciousness.

 _I soar,_ he thought, and passed from this world.

 **O-O-O**

As the Reaver ship landed, they discarded their drums and abandoned their chanting. The time for the celebration of anticipation was over; the time to fight was at hand. They tracked the crew of the Firefly as they exited the hanger and entered the complex proper, and began to give chase, knives, axes, maces, bows, and guns in hand. They would shoot and aim to wound, not to kill; they wanted their feast to be alive when they ate. They wanted them to suffer as they were raped. They wanted to hear the screams as they flayed and skinned, and watch them writhe and moan in pain as they sewed the skins of their victims into their clothing. This group had done them a horrible injustice, and they would pay for their sins like no others that had come before them.

They were Reavers, and this was their way. The only way they knew to be. In the BeforeTime, they were teachers, and bureaucrats, mechanics, doctors, lawyers, and researchers. Now they were rage and hatred, and above all, insatiable hunger.

And at last, it was their time to feast.

 **(Author's Note: And with that, Hoban Washburne, the source of laughter and joy on board** _ **Serenity**_ **, passes from this world.** _ **Exeunt**_ **Wash. As much as I hated the loss of Book, I despised the loss of Wash. The show could survive without the Preacher, but not without its virtuoso pilot, who was always ready with a quip or an acerbic bit of dialogue. In the unlikely event that the show were ever to return to the airwaves, I firmly believe that they would have to retcon that the movie never happened, and that Book and Wash were still alive. The cast of Firefly was a perfectly balanced mix of backgrounds and personalities, and continuing without Wash is like trying to drive a car on three wheels. You're quite frankly never going to get to your destination without him. Only one story left to write (as I've mentioned several times before, the epilogue is already written), and I am filled with melancholy. I will probably cry when I finish and publish tomorrow's story, and I publish today with a heavy heart. An era of my life draws to a close, an era and an experience I will never recapture. I am both thrilled at my accomplishment and saddened by its conclusion.)**

 **(Next Time: Can't Stop The Signal - As River fights the Reavers, Mal battles the Operative to get the signal from Miranda broadwaved. The fate of the Alliance and indeed the entire 'Verse hangs in the balance.)**


	74. Can't Stop The Signal

**.  
.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Ficlet 74: Can't Stop The Signal  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Hell, I'm gonna grant you your fondest wish; I'm gonna show you a world without sin."  
-Captain Malcolm Reynolds – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place during the "Serenity" film.)**

Mal climbed up onto the railing, prepared to jump onto an overhead segment of metal used to transport equipment to the central core of Mr. Universe's backup transmitter, which was positioned over the reactor. Without warning, he took a shot in the back from a handheld stunner, and thankfully sprawled to the ground on the merciful side of the railing, rather than falling to his death.

"You shot me in the back!" Mal exclaimed at the Operative, standing up and turning around. "I haven't made you angry, have I?"

"There are a lot of innocent people in the air being killed right now," the Operative said to Mal.

"You have no idea how true that is," Mal retorted. "I know the secret. The truth that burned up River Tam's brain. Rest of the 'Verse is gonna know it, too, 'cause they need to."

"Do you really believe that?" the Operative asked with a deadly curiosity and surprising sincerity.

"I do," Mal said with conviction.

"You willing to die for that belief?" the Operative asked again.

"I am," Mal said without hesitation, and again, with conviction.

Both men drew simultaneously, and Mal shot first, hitting the Operative's weapon and damaging it beyond repair as well as sending it flying out of his hand. Mal kept firing. He knew that the Operative always wore full body armor, but he could still hurt him, still knock him to the ground in order to give him the head start he needed. "Of course," Mal said, "that ain't exactly Plan A." He then took a running start and leapt into space, grabbing ahold of the metal slider overhead, and began to climb across its length.

 **O-O-O**

The crew of _Serenity_ fought bravely, all of them but River, who had gone practically catatonic on them. Even Kaylee was shooting at the Reavers that got past their first line of defense, having been recently given some rudimentary training with pistols and submachine guns. But there were too many of them. Dozens littered the ground and they still kept coming. Kaylee took three or four darts of the paralytic M6 to the chest and throat, just before the crew fell back from the choke point they were defending, and into the corridor protected by the blast doors. Jayne had been shot in the shoulder, and Zoe, who fought on despite just having lost Wash, had taken an axe to the back, but fortunately, the damage was not critical or crippling.

The blast doors refused to close all the way, and Kaylee, who was still ambulatory for the moment, offered to go outside and said she could close them from there. Zoe reminded her that no one was coming back from that, and refused to allow her to go. Zoe then asked for an assessment of their ammunition, at which Jayne replied that he had "three full mags and my swingin' cod."

Kaylee lay down and told Simon that she was starting to lose feeling. Simon said he needed to get something from his bag for Kaylee, and realized to his horror that he had left it back in the choke point where the Reavers were congregating, on the other side of the partially-closed blast doors. He stood up as if he wanted to go back for it, despite the fact that anyone attempting to exit the corridor would find it a one-way trip, when Simon took a bullet to his lower left abdomen, sending him sprawling to the pavement floor.

"My bag," Simon moaned. "I need… adrenaline, and a shot of Calephar for Kaylee."

Simon continued to moan and writhe in pain as Inara applied direct pressure on the wound with her hands. "River," Simon said. "River, I'm sorry."

"No," River moaned back. "No," she whispered.

"I hate… I hate to leave," Simon breathed.

"You won't," River reassured him, obviously distraught.

"You take care of me," she said. "You've always taken care of me. My turn." And then the girl, who had shown her true skills in recent days, all the incredible and horrific things they had taught her at the Academy, did something no one expected. She spoke a phrase in Russian in her mind, activating herself, and began to sprint for the half-open blast door. She dove through it then leapt to her feet, punching one Reaver in the face and then disabling another with a blow to the head with his own mace; she then she slapped the button to seal the doors, grabbed Simon's bag and threw it through the opening before it closed completely. Then they were on her. The Reavers grabbed ahold of her and dragged her back into the room before she could dive back through. As the doors sealed, they could hear her cry out, and that was the last the crew could see of her.

 **O-O-O**

Mal had incapacitated the Operative long enough to pull out the holographic module containing the evidence they sought to broadwave, the evidence that the Alliance had created the Reavers on Miranda in an experiment that had resulted in the deaths of over 30 million people, and he almost got the module inserted when the Operative grabbed Mal from behind and dug his fingers into a pressure point on Mal's lower right side, ostensibly paralyzing him. "I'm sorry," he said. The Operative then took a few steps away and readied his sword. "You should know there's no shame in this; you've done remarkable things, but you're fighting a war you've already lost."

The Operative rushed forward, ready to drive his sword through Mal a second time, this time to kill. Mal, who had been feigning paralysis, sidestepped the blade, and elbowed the Operative in the throat. As he staggered back, dropping his sword, Mal practically broke his back with a maneuver that dislocated his shoulders, and then propped him up on the railing. "Piece of shrapnel tore up that nerve cluster my first tour. Had it 'moved. Sorry about the throat," Mal said. "I expect you'd want to say your famous last words right now. Just one trouble," he said as he inserted the tip of the sword through the harness on the Operative's back, behind the metal of the railing, and then through the other end of the harness, effectively pinning the man in a seated position as he faced the holo-emitter.

Mal knelt down and looked the Operative dead in the eye. "I ain't gonna kill ya." He then stood up and walked over the transmitter array. "Hell, I'm gonna grant you your greatest wish. I'm gonna show you a world without sin." He typed a brief description on the array's keyboard, that this was a transmission recovered from a search and rescue team on a world the Alliance had erased from the Cortex, a world called Miranda, furthest out in the Burnham Quadrant, where thirty million people had died, and the Reavers had been created, and then set the transmitter to broadwave to over thirty worlds within range of Mr. Universe's transmitter. He then inserted the module, which began to display its data immediately.

As the transmission began to play for the Operative, and on billions of screens throughout the System, Mal extended a catwalk and stormed off; he had people to check on. With luck, they'd all still be alive.

The Operative watched in silence as the woman on the screen explained what had happened on Miranda, and even more importantly, what had happened to a tenth of one percent of the population, over thirty thousand of them, as they were driven into a rage that was beyond madness. He watched as they stormed her ship, and once she had shot one of them, hesitated when she attempted to turn the pistol upon herself. Tears rolled down his face as he was forced to watch her being raped and eaten alive by people who had cut up their own faces and arms, had been driven insane by the Pax that had been added to the atmospheric processors. He had been promised a world without sin, and here it was.

Mal finally believed in something greater than himself, something big enough and important enough to die for, and at the same time, the Operative had lost his faith, his faith in the Parliament, which had been absolute and unwavering up until this moment.

 **O-O-O**

Elsewhere in the complex, River was fighting for her life. She had a unique ability to compartmentalize her thoughts, and it was for this reason in part that she had been recruited by the Academy. She was fighting and killing the Reavers, but she was fascinated by them even as she killed them, as she gleaned amazing things from their minds. Despite their apparent mindlessness and insanity, they had developed a distinct and vibrant culture.

The enjoyed music, the more driving and discordant, the better. They chanted and played their drums as they prepared for a hunt. They screamed and slapped at each other as they prepared to take on humans upon which to feast. In addition to mutilating their own bodies, in their spare time, they cut each others' hair, if for no other reason than to keep their locks out of their eyes, and to keep from giving their victims something to grasp onto during their raids.

They clustered together in clans, as some had suspected, each ship its own individual clan, and while some clans worked together from time to time in joint raids, they rarely interacted. They preferred the brotherhood of the familiar, and never transferred from the ship they were on unless it became disabled. Had they been mindless creatures, they would not be able to keep their ships in working order, or to keep them fueled. They would run out of propellant and drift through space until they starved to death, had the theory that they were mindless been true. They even took prisoners back for those that ran the ships to feed on, rape and skin, and while those that piloted and maintained the ships for the raiding parties felt a pang of loss at their inability to run down, rape, and eat their enemies, they understood the crucial nature of their roles in Reaver society, and were venerated for it.

The Reavers did not know remorse, or shame, or anxiety, but they knew joy, and fulfillment, and happiness. They knew anticipation, and hunger, and the thirst for blood on their hands and in their mouths. And perhaps most importantly of all, they knew friendship, and the sting that came with the loss of a comrade. All of this fascinated River, even as she worried after her brother and the rest of the crew, and felt horror at the rage of the monsters that surrounded her.

River slashed the throat of a male Reaver, who had been Aladar Martinez in the BeforeTime, a college professor of philosophy on Miranda, who had eaten three of his students in the lecture hall along with a colleague, while the other students looked on impassively. He had been a pacifist before the Pax.

Next, she slashed at a female that had been Melissa Maplethorpe, a young housewife who had devoured her twin infants in their cribs. The girls hadn't made a sound as they had been eaten. Her husband had come next, and he, too, did not seem to care as she bit into his flesh while he sat in a chair in a pool of his own urine and feces.

Next came a very young woman for a Reaver, only twenty-four. She had been Emmeline Crumb, who had just turned twelve a few days before the Pax was released, and had kept a diary of the changes to her world in the days that followed. She had written of the disability and deaths of her family, her cannibalism, self-mutiliation, and her killings without even noticing that anything was really wrong with her, her family, or her world. River spun her own sword through Emmeline's throat, then scooped up the girl's axe, and with two weapons in her hands, became even more deadly as she began taking down the Reavers in groups.

River had been a graceful dancer in the years before her admittance to the Academy, and her assault on the Reavers was like a Ballet of Death as she spun, flipped, and wheeled about, killing all the while. The Reavers had a distinct and intriguing culture, yes, but that by no means meant that it deserved to survive, or to be preserved. Sometimes animals went rabid, and when they did, you didn't coddle them, you didn't try to save them or nurse them back to health, you shot them dead in the street, and that was exactly what she was doing here, killing them _en masse_ like a group of ailing animals.

She turned and drove her twin blades into the sides of the neck of the last one, cutting his head clean off. And then there were none. She stood, axes at the ready in case any of them stirred and tried to attack her again, but she knew in her mind that they were gone, all of them gone. Half a mile away, she could feel that the crew of the _I.A.V. Helios_ , or what was left of it, fought for their lives against two Reaver ships full of inhuman monsters, but here the Reavers were dead, and good riddance.

With a nod of her head, River activated the panel with her thoughts, and the blast doors slid open, revealing the crew of _Serenity,_ including Mal, who had come up the elevator on the other side. She knew that he had gotten the word out. It was truly over. Even if she and Simon died now, even if they all died, they had completed a mission more important than all of them.

Before anyone could speak, the concrete wall behind River blew out, as the breaching charges set by the Alliance soldiers exploded, and the men came pouring into the room, over a dozen of them, assault rifles at the ready.

They ordered her to drop her weapons as they surrounded her. Her fists tightened upon the handles of the axe and sword, which, like her hands, were dripping with blood. "Targets acquired," said the leader. "Do we have a kill order? Do we have an order?" She could feel his finger tightening on the trigger of his rifle, and then she heard in her mind the order that came from the Operative over the comm devices in each of their ears.

Deep inside the core of the complex, the Operative knew that they had achieved their objective, but too late. Still, despite that fact, he was glad. Mal had been right. The 'Verse needed to see the broadwave from Miranda, and he had needed to see it, too.

"Stand down," he said with resignation. "Stand down. It's finished. We're finished."

 **(Author's Note: With that, I write and submit my final chapter in Firefly: Deleted Scenes, since the epilogue, "You Can't Take The Sky From Me", was written several weeks ago, and I have been tweaking it in the intervening time. Much of the interchange between Mal and the Operative is verbatim from the film "Serenity", and while I know some of you do not appreciate verbatim retellings from the canon, I felt it was necessary to tell this story. Also, the character and backstory of Emmeline Crumb was taken without permission as an homage to a fanfic you can find in the Serenity Movie section of the website, called "Dear Diary". I truly enjoyed that creepy and sad fanfiction, and wanted to pay my respects to it with this chapter. I hope that you, the reader, appreciated the glimpse inside the culture of the Reavers, which is perhaps one of the greatest unanswered question of the canon, perhaps the greatest Deleted Scene of all. When I started this series, I did not know most of the answers to the questions I have posed and then answered in this series; hell, I didn't even know most of the questions when I began. I simply started writing, and came up with both the questions and their answers as I went. I write this last Author's Note with a heavy heart, knowing that the story, or at least my telling of it, is truly over. There are tears in my eyes and a lump in my throat, knowing that this particular ride is over, and these days will never come again, when Firefly ruled my life, almost every waking moment, for nearly eleven weeks. Now I get to take a break and spend some time relaxing with my fiancée, all before I begin the writing process all over again, for now, with a much less ambitious project. That said, this may be where we part ways, and I want to tell my readers, fans, and reviewers that I love you all, and cherish every piece of feedback and praise I have received over the last three months. Those messages will always be a part of me, as will this story. For now, there is the epilogue to publish tomorrow, and then the tale will finally and completely be told. I hope you enjoy it. Oh, one last thing before I go… Selective SciFi Junkie, the author of the 25,000+ word Firefly/Serenity fanfiction I acted as a Beta for called "Strange Bedfellows", has taken the controversial Ficlet 62 of my series, "People-Shaped Holes", and is writing a sequel ficlet to it that I am currently doing Beta work for, and it will be published in the coming days. Like the chapter upon which it is based, it will also be called "People-Shaped Holes". Please look for it. For now, this is me, signing off. Gamera Obscura, Friday, May 6** **th** **, 2016, 9:01AM EST.)**

 **(Next Time: Epilogue: You Can't Take The Sky From Me - All good things must come to an end. Learn the fate of the Alliance, the destinies of all the characters as the story jumps decades into the future, and find out at last who has been telling this long and intriguing story.)**


	75. Epilogue: You Can't Take The Sky From Me

**.**

 **Firefly: Deleted Scenes  
Epilogue: You Can't Take The Sky From Me  
By Gamera Obscura**

" **Stand down. It's finished. We're finished."  
-The Operative – "Serenity" (Film)**

 **(The following takes place at the end of and after the end of the "Serenity" film.)**

And with that, the soldiers lowered their weapons, and began to assess the remaining, surviving crew of _Serenity_. Several took the elevator down into the core of Mr. Universe's facility and freed the Operative, who came back up the elevator with his men.

I am told that what happened next was a bit of a blur. The Operative began issuing orders to the available men, calling for Doctors, calling for engineers, ordering a tug to tow the remains of _Serenity_ to the _I.A.V. Cortez,_ freshly arrived on the scene. By the time the Doctors showed up to perform triage procedures on the crew, Simon had very nearly bled out, but they brought blood with them, type O-neg, a universal donor's blood, and began transfusions on both Simon and Mal at once. The crew was taken aboard the _I.A.V. Nightingale_ , which had landed on the runway of the massive facility, and they performed surgery on Zoe, Jayne, Mal and Simon, and treated Kaylee for the paralytic M6 that she had been hit with.

River, despite killing over thirty Reavers by herself, came through completely unscathed. She didn't have so much as a scratch on her, which, from what I am told, had completely stunned Mal. River was fully activated and had become the true fourth fighter of the crew. Aboard the _Nightingale_ , the crew recuperated and relaxed; by the order of the Operative, neither of the Tams were arrested, much to everyone's surprise.

Inara carved a trio of stones with the names of Hoban Washburne, Shepherd Derrial Book, and Mr. Universe on them, and River and Kaylee worked to create a holographic recording of each to sit atop each stone as a memorial. There was only a skeleton for Book, but the crew worked, those uninjured enough to work, to dig in the hard earth to bury the bodies, and then place the stones atop their final resting places. A brief funeral service was held, and Zoe, dressed in white, came and joined her comrades while holding several burning sticks of incense, which she used to light the fuse on a plastic rocket the Captain had kept in his quarters, a gift from Bester following their maiden voyage. The rocket took off and flew high into the air, completely disappearing from view in the setting sun as its chemical thrust pack burned out.

The service was conducted by Mal, who noted with irony and a hint of bitterness that one of those so interred, Shepherd Book, was much more suited to such an event than he was. Kaylee and Inara both cried, and Zoe, whose eyes were slightly wet, noted that like the rocket, her husband's life burned very bright, and very briefly. He, like Book, would be missed by all.

When the service was over, they reconvened inside the disabled hulk of Serenity, eschewing _Nightingale_ for the moment. Kaylee had worked hard over the last couple of days, and had gotten partial power restored. The crew sat in the dining hall, joined finally by Jayne, who had brought his acoustic guitar from his bunk. The Captain reached into one of the top cubbies and retrieved a half-full bottle of Jack Daniels. "Zoe will be the only one to recognize this bottle, as the other two crew members who would know it are now dead. This is the bottle of liquor I used to toast _Serenity_ on her maiden voyage," he said as he poured seven cups. "It seems fitting that, after all we've been through, that we finish it off together."

"To _Serenity_ ," he said. "She carried us and has flown true over the years, and by the soul of my mother, may she rest in peace, she will fly again." The crew clinked their glasses and downed the brown liquid, even River, who was too young to be drinking. Mal held the bottle in his hands. It would take a place on honor on the shelf in his cabin, and would be remembered fondly. For someone who didn't believe in sentimentality, I am told he could be quite nostalgic at times.

At this point in their palaver, Jayne rested his guitar on his knee and spoke. "I ain't told nobody this," he said, "but after we went to Shadow, I wrote a song for the Captain. It's not very good, but I hope y'all like it. I call it 'Shadow's Eternal Serenity'."

He plucked at the strings and began to play, and sang these words, which my mother later wrote down and passed along to me. Although the melody is long forgotten, the words endure:

 ** _Take my love, take my land  
Take me where I cannot stand  
I don't care, I'm still free  
You can't take the sky from me._**

 ** _Take me out to the Black_**  
 ** _Tell them I ain't comin' back_**  
 ** _Burn the land and boil the sea_**  
 ** _You can't take the sky from me._**

 ** _Leave the men where they lay_**  
 ** _They'll never see another day_**  
 ** _Lost my soul, lost my dream_**  
 ** _You can't take the sky from me._**

 ** _I feel the Black reaching out_**  
 ** _I hear its song without a doubt_**  
 ** _I still hear and I still see_**  
 ** _That you can't take the sky from me._**

 ** _Lost my love, lost my land_**  
 ** _Lost the last place I could stand_**  
 ** _There's no place I can be_**  
 ** _Since I've found Serenity_**

 ** _Lost the war at a cost  
My friends all down, all hope lost  
Won't back down, you will see  
You can't take the sky from me_**

 ** _Found my place, I feel safe_**  
 ** _Now I'm in the Black of space_**

 ** _I have found Serenity  
And you can't take the sky from me_**

The assembled crew clapped, but not overly so, out of respect for the dead and the gravity of the hour. Mal squeezed Jayne's shoulder, and Kaylee kissed him on the cheek. Inara stroked the side of his face and smiled at him, which made the usually hardened Jayne blush a little. I am told that at times, despite everything he had done and everything he had seen, Jayne could be a soft touch at times.

The tug, the _I.A.V. Sisyphus,_ arrived a couple of days later, and, after using their onboard crane to load up the detached thrusters from the ship's crash, they attached a dozen grapples to _Serenity_ and took her into orbit. They loaded her aboard the _Cortez_ , which set a course for Persephone. Once the _Cortez_ was in orbit six days later, the tug offloaded the remains of the ship to the Glendale drydocks, and repair work, overseen by Kaylee and Zoe, began in earnest, with the Alliance paying for the work and parts, by order of the Operative, who apparently had an unlimited budget. The crew each received a per diem which allowed them to dine at restaurants and even stay in a local inn, but all of them decided to save their money and live aboard, since they had power and water and light, and there was work to be done.

Each day, Mal would give their Alliance liaison a list of parts and needs, and Kaylee browbeat the Captain into requesting not just a brand new compression coil for the port, but one for the starboard coupling as well. When they arrived, I am told that she literally bounced into the air and squealed with happiness. She had been trying to get the Captain to replace the port compression coil for years, and it had been a ticking time bomb that could have left them drifting in space at any moment. Every time they had gone off the grid and out of range of help, Kaylee felt a clench of fear that the coil might have taken that moment to fail, and that they would all run out of food and water, and die in the wastes of space.

But, as Kaylee, not to mention the rest of the crew had learned, there was a certain element of luck that usually protected _Serenity_. It hadn't always worked; there had been shootings, stabbings, and even laser burns, and then there was Wash, poor Wash, but they had survived dozens of situations in which they should all have died. The ship was a good luck charm, and they would never abandon her until or unless they absolutely had to.

The Signal had weakened the Parliament's hold on the 'Verse, and there was overwhelming protesting, even riots in the Core, news of demands for the Parliament to convene a Constitutional Convention, and that all sitting members resign, began to trickle in over the Cortex. Each day, the news cycles were dominated not only with such political news, but story after story of the recounting of Reaver attacks, and demands from the public that the Reavers be hunted down and killed once and for all, for the safety of those out on the Rim and on the Border Worlds.

Meanwhile, with the help of the staff of the drydocks, Kaylee oversaw the reattachment of the thrusters, the replacement of the window in the Bridge, and the overhaul of the ship's core as the outer plating was replaced in the areas that the ship had been torn to disguise the ship from the Reavers when they had gone to Miranda. Kaylee scrubbed off the red paint, which had been used to simulate blood, with her bare hands, using turpentine and pads of steel wool. Jayne and Mal supervised the removal of the anti-air cannon from the dorsal hull of the ship, and in a matter of a couple of weeks, the ship looked completely like herself again, even if there was still at least a month's worth of work to be done internally, as much of the electrics and electronics had to be replaced due to the EMP that had downed the ship in the first place. Zoe, who had some aptitude in electronics, assisted with some of that work. River showed some skill as well, and while Kaylee was ordered to check on River's work, at least at first, the girl was invaluable in setting things to rights. Her instability and madness had passed the day that they had landed on Miranda; she was not shy in demonstrating her mental powers any longer, but despite that, she was a normal person again, genuine and whole. Furthermore, she had been fully activated, and as thus, she was the deadliest killer of anyone on the crew; as such, she had volunteered, against Simon's initial protests, to assist Jayne, Zoe, and Mal in their future endeavors, and to become a full-fledged member of the crew.

Simon's wound had healed fairly quickly, and he and Kaylee wasted no time in consummating their new relationship. Within days of their arrival on Persephone, Simon moved into Kaylee's bunk, in flagrant violation of the Captain's policy against shipboard romances. Mal had given up all pretense of even trying to uphold that policy any longer, however, and was even considering a shipboard romance of his own.

And speaking of shipboard romances, it was around this time that Simon informed Zoe Oona Alleyne Washburne that she was with child, a girl, according to the scan he performed on her. I was apparently conceived on Miranda, as Zoe and Wash had not been intimate since before arriving on Beaumonde, during the night that the ship, nestled on that dead planet, rested as Mal and company prepared to make a run for Mr. Universe's moon to get the Signal out. My mother, I am told, actually cried with joy in front of Simon, glad that Wash had left her with a parting gift. It is the only time, save for the day she gave birth to me, that I am told she ever wept, at least that the crew had ever seen.

Finally, after seven weeks in port, with the rioting on worlds like Osiris, Sihnon, Ariel and even Londinium reaching a fever pitch, the last of the work was done, and despite the rain, Mal was loading the last of the tools and equipment used to repair the ship onto the ramp. The Operative appeared to Mal, having seemingly come out of nowhere.

"It's not over, you know," the Operative said.

Mal had his back turned; his hand twitched toward the pistol holstered at his right side. He turned around without drawing.

"I can't guarantee that they won't come after you," the Operative continued. "The Parliament. Your broadwave about Miranda has weakened their regime, but they are not gone, and they are _not_ forgiving."

"That don't bode especially well for you," Mal said. "Giving the order to let us go, patchin' up our hurt."

"I told them the Tams were no longer a threat; damage done," the Operative replied. "They might listen. But I think they know that I'm no longer their man."

"They take you down," Mal said, "I don't expect to grieve over much. Like to kill you myself, I see you again."

"You won't," the Operative said with a soft smile. "There is nothing left to see." And with that, he turned and walked away.

Once Mal had loaded everything into the cargo bay, he raised the ramp, and Zoe came up to him as he was closing the inner airlock door. "Sir, we have a green light. Inspection's pos and we're clear for upthrust."

"Think she'll hold together?" Mal asked her after a moment.

"She's tore up plenty," Zoe said, "but she'll fly true."

There was a long silence between them; Mal didn't know if she was talking about the ship, her own heart, or both. "Make sure everything's secure. Could be bumpy."

"Always is," she said, and turned to walk away. After a half a dozen steps, she turned around and stepped back to the Captain, her Captain. "Sir, there's one other thing. When I was lashing the Shepherd's body to the prow of _Serenity,_ I took this off of him. I know how you feel about God, but I know Book would want you to have it."

She held out her hand, and deposited a gold cross in his palm, on a golden chain.

"The Preacher told me to believe in something," Mal said. "Anything I can. After the Signal, I discovered there _is_ something I believe in. I'm not completely sure I know what it is yet, but I believe."

"It's been a time of miracles for us, sir. Perhaps this is another one." She then walked away.

Mal eyed the chain with the cross on it for a moment, then put it around his neck, tucking the cross into his shirt. Perhaps he wasn't ready to believe in God again, or forgive Him for everything that he had been made to suffer over the last seven years, but he did believe in something. They had beaten all possible odds against them to get the Signal out, and then all of their problems, save for the loss of Wash and Book, had been swept away. Miracles, indeed. The cross would signify that belief, at least until he could figure out exactly what it was that he believed in.

On his way past his bunk, he ran into Inara, and asked her if she was ready to get back to her Training House. Inara told him that she didn't know, to which Mal replied that that was a good answer, and continued on his way.

Mal made his way to the Bridge of the ship, prepared to take her out of atmo, only to find River waiting for him there. In time, she would become not only the fourth fighter on the crew, but _Serenity's_ primary pilot, as skilled as Wash ever was. Part of it was the extensive training she had received at the Academy, but part of it was the fact that she had spent an entire year gleaning every secret Wash knew about piloting from his mind. From that day on, Mal always referred to her as his "Little Albatross."

 **O-O-O**

Later, after the ship was on her way from Persephone to Boros, Mal approached Inara again in her room in the passenger dorm, and asked if he could speak to her. They both sat upon the bed.

"Why did you leave?" Mal asked her.

"Why didn't you ask me to stay?" she countered.

"Inara," Mal began, "I think you know how I feel about you, but what do I got to offer you besides poverty and a life on the raggedy edge? How could that possibly have compared to the beautiful, rich folk you saw when your shuttle took you away from _Serenity?"_

"Mal, that was work," Inara offered. "I never cared about any of that," she said, expressing without saying that she cared for him, too. "I would have stayed if you had just asked me, just once, not to go."

"I know that you passed out in my bunk because you kissed me, not Saffron," Mal said. "River told me, moments after you left. When I found out, I wanted to chase after you, to find you and beg you not to go, but it was already too late. You were gone, and I didn't know where. By the time you made contact, it was too late."

Inara sighed. "Fate can play cruel tricks on us sometimes, can't it?" she asked.

Mal leaned in and kissed her, and she melted into his arms. "If I pass out…" he warned her.

Inara smiled, then kissed him again. "If we're going to do this, Mal, there's something you need to know about me…"

 **O-O-O**

In the months that followed, the riots that were breaking out all over the Core and Rim alike erupted into a new resistance, with many dissident groups pooling their efforts and banding together, and both _Serenity_ and the Firefly class became the symbol for the new movement. Finally, nearly a year after the Signal had been broadwaved, Captain Monty Omeris, flying solo in a Firefly 02-K-19 christened _Sic Semper Tyrannis_ , flew through the heart of the Parliamentary Governmental Complex on Londinium and detonated a thermonuclear weapon just before his ship was set to crash into the Parliament's Rotunda. Shattered Moon had hacked into the complex's anti-air defenses and disabled them, allowing his suicide run.

The blast completely obliterated the seat of power of the Alliance, and resulted in its collapse. All but two Parliament Ministers were killed, and those that remained were quickly deposed. The ensuing Constitutional Convention resulted in the formation of the Terran Confederation, with a bicameral Congress that vested most of the power in the Senate, where even the most sparsely populated moons on the Rim had equal power with the Core planets. For the first time in the system's history of governance, the Border and Rim Worlds held a majority over the Core, and it was only then that things began to change. After over a decade of war and subsequent neglect, the outer worlds began to receive the support and infrastructure they so badly needed. People stopped starving and started learning and building.

Six months later, with the help of River, Captain Reynolds found a fence on Boros who was willing to take the Lassiter off their hands for one and a half million credits. Mal sank some of the money into a complete overhaul of the ship, and invested the rest of his cut. What surprised him the most wasn't the ways in which the money changed their lives, but the fact that, once rich, no one left the ship. Even Simon and River, whose warrants and bounties had been rescinded by the new provisional government, chose to stay aboard and make their lives with their chosen family. None of them had to work to survive. Instead, they continued on as before, doing what they loved, living the kind of lives that only the truly free can know.

Two years later, combined elements of the Third, Fourth, and Seventh Confederation Fleets descended upon the vicinity of Miranda and wiped out the mass of the Reaver fleet without taking substantial losses. A concerted effort to find and eliminate the remainder of the Reavers was made, and following an engagement above Greenleaf in June of 2524, no report of Reaver activity, or a report of a Reaver attack has been rumored, let alone confirmed. Miranda was reclaimed and repopulated, and now is the home to over two hundred million people. In the heart of its capital sits an onyx obelisk over a mile high, that stands as a memorial to those who died there at the hands of the Alliance.

Inara Serra died twelve years later, but she lived long enough to see the new order taking shape, and to raise two children, both sired by her husband, Captain Malcolm Reynolds. The children were born vesselside, like me and my mother before me; Inara's son, Hoban, would go on to become an ambassador, while her daughter Derria would become a Senator that spearheaded legislation that eventually provided universal education and healthcare on the Rim.

Captain Reynolds retired in the late 2540s, and the crew finally went their separate ways. He never loved again, after Inara's death, and died in his daughter's home on Londinium, surrounded by both his children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. At his request, his funeral was held in a Christian church, and his body is interred at the Richardson Military Cemetary on Londinium, in a large, special tomb belying his importance in the creation of the Confederation; his stone bears a large, marble cross, also at his request, as a symbol of his unyielding faith in Christ.

Simon and River Tam returned to Osiris, where they were welcomed with open arms by their mother and father, who had hoped against hope, especially following the fall of the Alliance, that they would be reunited with their progeny. In time, Simon came to forgive his father, and he spent the rest of his professional life working at St. Adams Hospital in Capital City. River eventually completed a Doctorate in theoretical physics, and went on to work for the Andromeda Project, which finally allowed mankind to break the light speed barrier, enabling the terraforming and colonization of the surrounding systems in her lifetime. She also authored a book entitled "Children of the Void", a tome that described in great detail the history, culture, and exploits of the Reavers, as she was the only true expert on them, having absorbed massive amounts of information from the ones she had killed in her pitched battle with them in 2518.

Kaylee Tam went on to become the chief engineer of a luxury liner, with six mechanics working under her. The ship, _The Angel of Light_ , boasted a nearly perfect maintenance record, and never once suffered a malfunction in the Black while she was in charge of its upkeep. Whenever possible, she returned to Osiris to spend time with her husband before finally retiring to be with him. Together, they had three children: two girls, Melody and Nora, and a boy, Gunner.

Jayne returned to his home, his mother Radiant still alive and living in the fine house he had purchased for her, his sister Jenny, and his brother Mattie, now cured of the damp lung by a Core Doctor, and lived a life of quiet contemplation. It is said that in his later years, he became obsessed with learning and reading, and that his passions were philosophy and theology. Having given up his life of violence, he eventually became a Deacon at his local church. A few years later, a pair of gunmen stormed the church, attempted to steal the collection plates and rob the congregation. Reverting to his old ways, and in spite of his advanced years, he managed to disarm one before killing both, saving the Shepherd that was leading the Sunday service, who was being held hostage. While he was generally thanked for saving the life of the Shepherd and any number of people in the flock that might have been killed, he was stripped of his Deaconship for his violence inside the church, but remained a member for some twelve years before his death by natural causes. To this day, in Worker Town on the Factory Settlement of Canton on Higgins' Moon, the statue of the Hero of Canton still stands, and he is practically worshiped as a saint by the freemen that work there under the compassionate guidance of Magistrate Fess Higgins.

Then, finally, there's Zoe Oona Alleyne Washburne, my mother. She and I were close during my upbringing and adulthood, until her passing. She was pleased that I had become career military with the Terran Confederation Navy, a dream that had been stolen from her by the Unification War. She never remarried, and never got over the loss of Wash, her beloved husband.

Incidentally, when I left _Serenity_ to join the Confederation Naval Academy, Captain Malcolm Reynolds brought me into his quarters and showed me a simple lead canister he kept on that shelf in his bunk, unscrewed the top, and pulled out a piece of black glass, or cullet, now no longer radioactive, and gave it to me as a memento of the destruction of Shadow. I still keep it in my Ready Room as a reminder of him, and of my upbringing on the ship. When _Serenity_ was decommissioned, and Mal retired, I am told he gave a piece to every member of the crew, including his children, as a keepsake, retaining only a few pieces for himself. I am told that we all keep our pieces of Shadow in a place of honor in our homes, as a reminder of the evil of the Alliance, and the triumph of the people over it. When he gave me mine, Mal said that seeing Shadow again changed him, and that he was never the same afterwards.

These stories, and several hundred more like it now lost in the mists of time, serve as a testament to the taming of the frontier, the civilization of the galaxy, and the crew of a ship that carried the death of a monstrous empire inside of it in the form of a sixteen year old girl. The Firefly transport _Serenity_ now resides in the New Smithsonian on Londinium, as a reminder of the dark years of the Alliance, and the symbol of the revolution that finally relegated it to the dustbin of history.

Respectfully Submitted,  
Emma Oona Washburne, Captain, _Yanjingshe_ -Class Dreadnought _C.S.V._ _Serenity_ , Flagship of the Terran Confederation Fleet.

 **.**

 **The End**

 **.**

 **.**

 **(Author's Afterword: All good things must come to an end. And with those words, I hereby draw the era of Firefly: Deleted Scenes to a close. For those that are reading this after final publication, this work began on February 23** **rd** **, 2016, and I published a single ficlet every single day until its completion on this day, Saturday, May 7** **th** **, 2016. I wanted not only to write a memorable and popular fanfiction, but also to give my readers and fans something to look forward to every day when they got up in the morning, and it worked, as I gained a following that checked in every single day for their daily dose of my stories. Now, nearly 11 weeks, 75 chapters, 165,000+ words, and over 500 pages later, it's done at last. I couldn't have done this without the help of several people. First, and foremost, I want to thank Ckorkows, who has been a mentor and friend to me, despite deep division and differences between us, and helped me find a home where I could explore my writing, a forum community called The Room. Next, I want to thank DenZatz, who allowed me to be a Beta editor and later collaborator on his massive (and still continuing) work, RWBY: Ghosts of the Past. It was through him that I found my muse, and learned that I could still write and be creative, despite overwhelming obstacles in my life. Third, and perhaps most importantly, this project would never have come together and thrived as it has had it not been for the unwavering support and love from my fiancée, Brittany. It is because of her that I was allowed the time to pursue this dream, and she spent many an evening alone, reading by herself as I labored away to meet my daily deadlines. I love you, Brittany, more than anything in the world, and I always will. Next, I want to thank some of my fans. First, there is Selective SciFi Junkie, who was another mentor of sorts to me, who read my dailies long before they were published, and offered advice and help, particularly in chapters that included medical scenarios. Next, there is ZingerCaskett, who showed me the road to Shadow, and all the promise that came with it. There are several scenes in this epilogue that were suggested by her, and I dedicate them to her, as is her due. Then there is VStarTraveler, whose constant reviews, SPAG updates, and cheerleading, were crucial to my work. Lastly, there is MutantEnemyFan97, who provided the final two verses of the show's theme song that Jayne sings following the funeral in this epilogue. It was well done, and I felt that it deserved to be included (with his permission) in this work. I owe you all a debt I will never be able to repay. Finally, to you, my dear reader, I offer my thanks for your interest, your PMs of ConCrit, SPAG, and support, as well as your reviews and well-wishes. This work will endure, and I hope, be the first in a long line of Deleted Scenes series for many of my favorite fandoms. This is by far the most ambitious project I have ever undertaken, in terms of my creativity or my writing, but I hope that it will pale in comparison to what is to come.)**

 **(I also want to remind my readers once more that if you're looking to see more of my writing, to check out the story I have written which is certainly my best to date, "Tales of the Ubermensch: The Series", which is technically a crossover between the viral free eBook "Tales of the Ubermensch: Hack dot World" and in an unconventional way, "Death Note", because while "Death Note" is a fictional work in the world of this story, I write that the members of the task force are based on real people and a real task force, hunting a monstrous serial murderer called "The Killer". I have to warn that this story is Rated M, bordering on MA, and is filled with sexual situations and foul language, and features some of the darkest and most irredeemable characters imaginable, including child molesters and animal murderers, as well as terrorists and killers galore. Still, in the Crime/Horror genre in which it has been published, it is a grand tale, and weighs in at over 40,000 words. Please give it a read, if you can stomach the subject matter. Also, if you favorite me as an author, or at least follow me, you will know when I publish my next Deleted Scenes series, as I intend this tale to be the first of many Deleted Scenes to come, and as before, I intend to publish daily, so you'd have a daily dose of Deleted Scenes every morning.)**

 **Respectfully Submitted,  
Gamera Obscura**

 **And, as always, never forget: You can't stop the Signal.**


	76. Bonus: Delicate Negotiations

**"Six months later, with the help of River, Captain Reynolds found a fence on Boros who was willing to take the Lassiter off their hands for one and a half million credits. Mal sank some of the money into a complete overhaul of the ship, and invested the rest of his cut. What surprised him the most wasn't the ways in which the money changed their lives, but the fact that, once rich, no one left the ship. Even Simon and River, whose warrants and bounties had been rescinded by the new provisional government, chose to stay aboard and make their lives with their chosen family. None of them had to work to survive. Instead, they continued on as before, doing what they loved, living the kind of lives that only the truly free can know."**

 **-Firefly: Deleted Scenes - Epilogue: You Can't Take The Sky From Me**

 **(Coming Soon: A bonus story suggested by one of my fans, detailing among other things, the fencing of the Lassiter, and the aftermath of that windfall. Also inclusive in what is planned to be a four-chapter coda to Firefly: Deleted Scenes is the birth of Emma Oona Washburne and a final goodbye between Mal and Monty before his fateful and heroic final flight. This story has taken me longer to get to than I originally anticipated. I expected to be finished with Tales of the Ubermensch: The Sorceress's Apprentice in a matter of a week or two, since I only have one and a half chapters left to go, but I found my muse has left me for a short time, resulting in a three+ month hiatus from writing. I will be returning to the keyboard soon, however, and will be sure to move swiftly to Delicate Negotiations. Keep watching this space!)**


	77. Request For Story Suggestions

**Author's Note:**

 **To my loyal and wonderful readers:**

 **Despite the long hiatus, I am still intending to complete the bonus story, Delicate Negotiations, which was suggested by some elements of the epilogue and will explore them in some depth.**

 **In the meantime, I have a question for my loyal readers:**

 **Are there any untold stories, either from my Deleted Scenes, the show, the movie, or the epilogue in particular, that you would like to see expanded upon? I am open to suggestions for further stories set in the Deleted Scenes universe, and I am more that willing to revisit it for such a popular and acclaimed story.**

 **-Gamera Obscura**


End file.
